• Subscribe Now
  • Today In History
  • Wars & Events
    • The Russia–Ukraine War
    • American Revolution
    • The Civil War
    • World War I
    • World War II
    • Cold War
    • Korean War
    • Vietnam War
    • Global War on Terror
    • Movements
      • Women’s Rights
      • Civil Rights
      • Abolition of Slavery
  • Famous People
    • U.S. Presidents
    • World Leaders
    • Military Leaders
    • Outlaws & Lawmen
    • Activists
    • Artists & Writers
    • Celebrities
    • Scientists
    • Philosophers
  • Eras
    • Modern Era
      • 2000s
      • 1900s
      • 1800s
    • Early Modern
      • 1700s
      • 1600s
      • 1500s
    • The Middle Ages
    • Classical Era
    • Prehistory
  • Topics
    • Black History
    • Slavery
    • Women’s History
    • Prisoners of War
    • Firsthand Accounts
    • Technology & Weaponry
    • Aviation & Spaceflight
    • Naval & Maritime
    • Politics
    • Military History
    • Art & Literature
    • News
    • Entertainment & Culture
    • Historical Figures
    • Photography
    • Wild West
    • Social History
    • Native American History
  • Magazines
    • American History
    • America’s Civil War
    • Aviation History
    • Civil War Times
    • Military History
    • Military History Quarterly
    • Vietnam
    • Wild West
    • World War II
  • Newsletters
  • Podcasts
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
Skip to content
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
HistoryNet

HistoryNet

The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet.

  • Subscribe Now
  • Today In History
  • Wars & Events
    • The Russia–Ukraine War
    • American Revolution
    • The Civil War
    • World War I
    • World War II
    • Cold War
    • Korean War
    • Vietnam War
    • Global War on Terror
    • Movements
      • Women’s Rights
      • Civil Rights
      • Abolition of Slavery
  • Famous People
    • U.S. Presidents
    • World Leaders
    • Military Leaders
    • Outlaws & Lawmen
    • Activists
    • Artists & Writers
    • Celebrities
    • Scientists
    • Philosophers
  • Eras
    • Modern Era
      • 2000s
      • 1900s
      • 1800s
    • Early Modern
      • 1700s
      • 1600s
      • 1500s
    • The Middle Ages
    • Classical Era
    • Prehistory
  • Topics
    • Black History
    • Slavery
    • Women’s History
    • Prisoners of War
    • Firsthand Accounts
    • Technology & Weaponry
    • Aviation & Spaceflight
    • Naval & Maritime
    • Politics
    • Military History
    • Art & Literature
    • News
    • Entertainment & Culture
    • Historical Figures
    • Photography
    • Wild West
    • Social History
    • Native American History
  • Magazines
    • American History
    • America’s Civil War
    • Aviation History
    • Civil War Times
    • Military History
    • Military History Quarterly
    • Vietnam
    • Wild West
    • World War II
  • Newsletters
  • Podcasts
Posted inStories

Tuskegee Airmen, 1941-45

by Jerry D. Morelock7/20/2017
Share This Article

The first African-American U.S. fighter pilots not only destroyed Nazi planes but also shattered racial stereotype.

By the beginning of World War II, African-Americans had fought in the United States’ wars since the American Revolution. During the Civil War, Indian Wars, Spanish-American War and World War I, they served with distinction, and some received the country’s highest valor award, the Medal of Honor. Yet many Americans of that era – including most military leaders – were guilty of egregious racial stereotyping that caused them to believe African-Americans were incapable of becoming military pilots. During World War II, Tuskegee Airmen proved the doubters wrong while forging a superb combat record in the skies over Europe.

Tuskegee Airmen got their name from the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, where the War Department established a training program for African-American pilots in 1941. Nearly 1,000 black pilots and hundreds of ground crewmen were trained during World War II, eventually forming two units: 332d Fighter Group and 447th Bombardment Group. Although Tuskegee Airmen pilots flew P-39, P- 40 and P-47 fighter planes during the war, they are most closely associated with P-51 Mustangs, whose tails they painted red, leading to their “Red Tails” nickname.

Beginning in mid-1943, 450 Tuskegee Airmen pilots served in overseas combat in 332d Fighter Group, flying 15,533 combat sorties. Forty percent of the pilots became casualties: 66 were killed during combat, 84 died in training or non-combat missions, and 32 were captured after being shot down. Against these losses, 332d Fighter Group’s pilots shot down 112 enemy aircraft, including three German Me-262 jet fighters in a single mission (March 24, 1945). Tuskegee Airmen also wreaked havoc in a ground attack role, destroying 150 planes (and damaging another 148), nearly 1,000 trains/railway cars and motor vehicles, and 40 barges and boats (including a German destroyer/torpedo boat).

Yet Tuskegee Airmen pilots gained their greatest fame flying bomber escort missions. They flew hundreds of such missions for 12th and 15th U.S. Army Air Forces, forging an enviable record while earning the lasting gratitude of the bomber crews they protected. Of the 179 escort missions 332d Fighter Group flew for 15th Air Force, its pilots lost bombers to German fighters on only seven of the outings. In fact, they lost a total of only 25 bombers, while other fighter groups lost an average of 46.

Tuskegee Airmen built an outstanding combat record that shattered racial stereotypes and firmly established their claim as some of history’s greatest warriors.

 

 Jerry D. Morelock, PhD, “Armchair General” Editor in Chief

Originally published in the March 2013 issue of Armchair General.

Share This Article
by Jerry D. Morelock

Jerry D. Morelock, PhD, Colonel, U.S. Army, Ret., is a 1969 West Point graduate who served 36 years in uniform. A decorated Vietnam War combat veteran, his assignments included Pentagon tours on the Department of the Army staff and in the Strategic Plans and Policy Directorate, Joint Chiefs of Staff. His final active duty assignment was head of the history department at the US Army Command & General Staff College. An award-winning author, he has published several books and hundreds of journal and magazine articles. His books include Generals of the Bulge: Leadership in the U.S. Army’s Greatest Battle, The Army Times Book of Great Land Battles: From the Civil War to the Gulf War, and (as a contributing author) Pershing’s Lieutenants: American Military Leadership in World War I edited by David Zabecki and Douglas Mastriano. After Army retirement, he was Executive Director of the Winston Churchill Memorial & Library at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri (2000-2004) and is adjunct faculty professor of history and political science at Westminster. He was Editor in Chief of Armchair General magazine (2004-2015), and currently is Senior Editor/Senior Historian for four Historynet military history magazines.

more by Jerry D. Morelock

    Dive deeper

    • Aerial Combat

    Citation information

    Jerry D. Morelock (6/15/2025) Tuskegee Airmen, 1941-45. HistoryNet Retrieved from https://www.historynet.com/tuskegee-airmen-1941-45/.
    "Tuskegee Airmen, 1941-45."Jerry D. Morelock - 6/15/2025, https://www.historynet.com/tuskegee-airmen-1941-45/
    Jerry D. Morelock 7/20/2017 Tuskegee Airmen, 1941-45., viewed 6/15/2025,<https://www.historynet.com/tuskegee-airmen-1941-45/>
    Jerry D. Morelock - Tuskegee Airmen, 1941-45. [Internet]. [Accessed 6/15/2025]. Available from: https://www.historynet.com/tuskegee-airmen-1941-45/
    Jerry D. Morelock. "Tuskegee Airmen, 1941-45." Jerry D. Morelock - Accessed 6/15/2025. https://www.historynet.com/tuskegee-airmen-1941-45/
    "Tuskegee Airmen, 1941-45." Jerry D. Morelock [Online]. Available: https://www.historynet.com/tuskegee-airmen-1941-45/. [Accessed: 6/15/2025]

    Related stories

    Stories

    Portfolio: Images of War as Landscape

    Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, […]

    Stories

    Jerrie Mock: Record-Breaking American Female Pilot

    In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earhart’s disappearance.

    Stories

    Celebrating the Legacy of the Office of Strategic Services 82 Years On

    From the OSS to the CIA, how Wild Bill Donovan shaped the American intelligence community.

    Review

    Seminoles Taught American Soldiers a Thing or Two About Guerrilla Warfare

    During the 1835–42 Second Seminole War and as Army scouts out West, these warriors from the South proved formidable.

    HistoryNet
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • YouTube

    “History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.”

    David McCullough, author of “1776”

    HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the world’s largest publisher of history magazines. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines.

    Our Magazines

    • American History
    • America’s Civil War
    • Aviation History
    • Civil War Times
    • Military History
    • Military History Quarterly
    • Vietnam
    • Wild West
    • World War II

    About Us

    • What Is HistoryNet.com?
    • Advertise With Us
    • Careers
    • Meet Our Staff!

    Stay Curious

    Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians.

    sign me up!

    © 2025 HistoryNet.
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Service