WWII Veteran Tuskegee Airman shares his story at Palm Springs Air Museum

Hundreds gathered to hear the remarkable story of World War II veteran Lt. Col Harry Stewart on Sunday at the Palm Springs Air Museum. He was one of the first African American army pilots in the war.

He says African American pilots could fight for the first time in WWII under the condition that they trained in a segregated unit, now remembered in history as the Tuskegee airmen.

iIn his new book “Soaring to Glory” he discusses his experience with segregation in our armed forces — sharing that prisoners of war were often treated better than our own African American soldiers. “Even in this country where we had German prisoners and Italian prisoners…if they were white they were given preference over our own soldiers,” said Stewart.

And that when the war was over — the Tuskegee airmen were disappointed to return home to a country where the racial landscape had not changed: “Very little had changed. The same prejudice the same attitudes…national attitudes towards race stayed the same. And was the same. It wasn’t until years after that, that a change started taking place,” he added.

Recounting his experiences — he says it’s important to learn from the past.

“They were terrible things that happened. And with the long view of history we forget these things sometimes. And we should talk about the significance of them and hopefully we don’t make the same mistakes,” said Fred Bell, a spokesperson for the Palm Springs Air Museum.

Stewart encouraged everyone to pursue their dreams even in the face of discrimination: “Don’t let the little things like discrimination…sway you from the path that you want to take.”