Tuskegee Airman Honoroed In Riverside County

An Air Force veteran who saw action in three wars will headline UC Riverside’s event today honoring the famed Tuskegee Airmen.

The campus’s sixth annual Tuskegee celebration will recount the history and exploits of the men and women attached to the all-black squadron, which derives its name from the Alabama airfield where the pilots were trained.

Retired Air Force Col. Charles E. McGee is slated to deliver the event’s keynote address around 4:30 p.m. at the Raymond L. Orbach Science Library.

McGee was a Tuskegee airman, flying a P-51 Mustang in 137 missions over Europe during World War II, according to his biography. He also flew P-51s during the Korean War, and was an F-4 Phantom jet fighter pilot in Vietnam, after which he commanded the U.S. Air Force’s 44th Fighter Squadron.

McGee will be joined by Dr. Nancy Leftenant-Colon, a Tuskegee member who also became the first black nurse in the Regular Army Nurse Corps.

The Air Force — originally the Army Air Corps — was desegregated in 1948.

The Tuskegee Airmen flew 1,578 missions and 15,533 sorties, resulting in 261 downed enemy aircraft.

UCR established the Western Region Tuskegee Airmen Archive in 2005, and has held ceremonies honoring the group’s contributions through documentaries and other presentations since that time.

The archive contains oral histories and the personal documents of pilots, bombardiers, mechanics and other personnel attached to the unit.

Filmmaker George Lucas is wrapping up production on a movie about the Tuskegee Airmen, titled “Red Tails.”