The Tuskegee airmen represents the flip-side of the Tuskegee experiments coin. The Tuskegee experiments were an ugly chapter of U.S. history.
But the Tuskegee airmen lived a history that reaches fairytale proportions.
Some say these men were picked for a program that was intended to fail; that they were intended as chumps, to prove that Blacks simply were not the equals of White U.S. military pilots.
Yet their military achievements were remarkable by any military aviation standard.
I regard each and every member of the Tuskegee airmen a hero.
Rest in resplendent peace and joy Lt. Colonel Dryden. Your nation owes you a debt of gratitude we can never repay.
But the Tuskegee airmen lived a history that reaches fairytale proportions.
Some say these men were picked for a program that was intended to fail; that they were intended as chumps, to prove that Blacks simply were not the equals of White U.S. military pilots.
Yet their military achievements were remarkable by any military aviation standard.
I regard each and every member of the Tuskegee airmen a hero.
Chuck Dryden, 87, Tuskegee airman known as 'A-Train'
By KAY POWELL
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/27/08
Chuck Dryden lived a history he never wanted forgotten, the story of the Tuskegee Airmen fighter pilots in World War II.
Commissioned in 1942, he was in the vanguard of the eventual integration of the military. He was among the first African-Americans to lead a fighter squadron into combat, and he was a member of one of the most successful flying squadrons in American military history. He survived a court-martial for buzzing a building and made the Air Force his career.
A command pilot with more than 4,000 flying hours, including combat missions in Korea, he retired in 1962 as a lieutenant colonel.
In 2007, he was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.
"He was an icon for the Tuskegee Airmen, Atlanta Chapter," said its president, Floyd W. Stanfield Jr., of Rex.
Col. Dryden was one of 12 original Tuskegee Airmen in the chapter.
As a toddler, Col. Dryden would fold paper, toss it into the air and call it an airplane. As a civilian, he learned to fly before he could drive, his wife said. He tried to enlist in the Army Air Corps twice but was turned down.
In 1941, the military, under executive order, began training at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama for an all-black fighting unit. Col. Dryden was accepted into the second Aviation Cadet Training Class. He was called "A-Train" for his favorite Duke Ellington cut of the song and because of his New York City background, his wife said. He joined the 99th Fighter Squadron, flying P-40F Warhawks.
Charles Walter Dryden, 87, of Atlanta died at Atlanta Medical Center June 24. He had a history of diabetes and high blood pressure but had been sick only briefly, said his wife, Marymal Dryden. The funeral is at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Cascade United Methodist Church. Murray Bros. Cascade Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/obits/stories/2008/06/26/chuck_dryden_obit.html
Rest in resplendent peace and joy Lt. Colonel Dryden. Your nation owes you a debt of gratitude we can never repay.
