the 33rd fighter group , major anderson former ground support servicemen of the tuskegee airmen, bill fauntroy, former cadet for the tuskegee airmen, and finally stephen mccoy, chairman of the speakers bureau. ladies and gentlemen please help the in welcoming these brave men of the tuskegee airmen. [applause] >> good morning, everybody. how are we this morning? excellent. first, i'd like to thank the wonderful introduction. i'd like to go ahead and give her a round of applause. iq. -- thank you. [applause] i would also like to thank cadet nicole cable for her introduction of us. the tuskegee airmen, seated here, and i, want to welcome you to this panel discussion about the history and legacy of the tuskegee airmen. we wish to thank the american veterans service for allowing us to speak with you in this venue. we wish to express our special thanks to our contact within the american veterans center, wes smith. please feel free to chat with her during -- after the completion of our panel this morning. i would like to start off with a brief introduction. seated before you, you have ivan where, bui

seated before you you have ivan ware, bill fauntroy and major anderson. this morning, they are here to represent the 16 to 19,000 men and women who are part of the tuskegee airmen story. during world war ii, it is often referred to as the tuskegee experience. this morning, i'd like to start with the definition of a tuskegee airman. a tuskegee airman is any person, man or woman, military or civilian, black or white, who served at tuskegee army airfield or at any of the other locations that supported programs stemming from the tuskegee experience between 1941 through 1949. all these individuals are considered tuskegee airmen. the tuskegee experience that we will be discussing was a unique and important development in race relations in the history of our country for black citizens and the nation as a whole. it established, in 1941, through political and legal maneuverings, america's ability to be enlightened and to be challenged. to appreciate the significance of the tuskegee experience, it is necessary for it to be viewed through the content of the american

for your information, the pilots, like bill fauntroy to my left here, the pilots were sent to tuskegee, alabama. there in tuskegee, they had the classroom, tuskegee institute for classroom study. they also had morton field for the pilots to learn how to fly planes. the pilots went to tuskegee. the enlisted personnel like myself went to the chanute illinois, not far from chicago for our training. my training was an aircraft sheet metal worker and my occupation was to repair bullet holes of aircraft. so the maintenance crew was a part of. our job was to keep the planes flying. i was stationed at godman field, kentucky and most of my time at godman -- most of my time in the military was spent at godwin field, kentucky, 1944 to 1945. the unit of the group that i was assigned to was the 477th bomber group. general davis later became the commanding officer of that group. before we completed our training, the war was coming to an end so the 477th bomber group remained stateside. i was discharged for the convenience of the government in 1945 and that is my career with the military. >> thank yo