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Five Tuskegee Airmen honored at Veterans Day ceremony

Livingston County News - 1/12/2017

Veterans Day 2016 was extra special at the National Warplane Museum in Geneseo.

Five Tuskegee Airmen, including the father of Livingston County Highway Superintendent Don Higgins, were presented with bronze replicas of the Congressional Gold Medal that was awarded collectively to the Tuskegee Airmen in 2007.

More than 300 people attended the emotional ceremony that took place in the museum's hangar.

Wallace C. Higgins, one of those honored, said that he doesn't cry easily, but he was teary-eyed as he accepted one of the medals. Higgins also celebrated his 91st birthday on Veterans Day.

Herbert Thorpe joined Higgins as a surviving Tuskegee Airman to receive the medal. Thorpe also accepted a medal on behalf of his brother, Richard, who died in Italy in 1945. The families of two other Airmen, Leland H. Pennington and Robert Johnson, were also presented medals.

"This was spectacular. I couldn't believe the number of people here," said Alfred Fields of Rochester, who was among the family members accepting for his cousin, Pennington.

The medal was presented in recognition of their service to the Army Air Corps programs that trained African-Americans to fly and maintain combat aircraft during World War II. The program, known as the "Tuskegee Experience," is credited with helping to desegregate the military at a time when there were sharp racial divides for much of the United States.

"I didn't know about segregation growing up," said Higgins, a native of Kendall, Orleans County, who described a childhood among German and other cultures on the shores of Lake Ontario.

It was only after entering the service and training in Biloxi, Miss. that Higgins saw racial inequality. He completed primary flight training but saw his flying career end as the war was winding down. After the Allies declared victory in Europe, Higgins was sent with an engineering unit to the Pacific.

Thorpe earned his B-25 pilot's wings in 1945.

Pennington, a flight officer in the 301st Fighter Squadron, died while returning to base on a 1945 bomber escort mission in Austria. Robert M. Johnson was also killed in action in 1944.

The Tuskegee Airmen, in service from 1941 to 1949, included pilots, navigators, bombardiers, maintenance and support staff, instructors and all the personnel who kept the planes in the air. They trained as a segregated unit at an air base in Tuskegee, Ala. and showed that African-Americans could serve in roles beyond the mess hall or supply depot.

"At a time in our history where African-Americans faced tremendous prejudice, the Tuskegee Airmen remained true to their convictions and answered the call of duty, serving our nation honorably," Congressman Chris Collins, R-Clarence, said in presenting the awards.

That five Tuskegee Airmen were recognized in a single ceremony was itself a rare occurrence. While other Airmen have received the medal in ceremonies similar to the one at the Warplane Musum, many Airmen have not yet received their medal either due to the inability to attend the Washington, D.C., ceremony or being unaware that it could be acquired by themselves or family members, posthumously.

The Warplane Museum's ceremony developed after Don Higgins sought assistance from the Warplane Museum in obtaining the replica medal for his father. Within a few days and as word spread of the ceremony, organizers learned of additional Tuskegee Airmen who had not yet received their medals.

"We are excited to be a part of this significant event especially on Veterans Day," said Austin Wadsworth, president of the museum. "Honoring these Tuskegee Airmen today is just one of the ways we are able to continue our mission - to recognize all United States military personnel for their selfless service and sacrifice."