Tuskegee Airmen get together for 8th time in Walterboro

WALTERBORO — Tuskegee Airmen, the famed World War II fighter pilots who trained near here, will converge on Walterboro again this weekend for the eighth annual Hiram E. Mann Chapter awards banquet.

Two original members of the African American fighting unit, retired lieutenant colonels Hiram E. Mann and Spann Watson, will be special guests of honor.

The keynote address will be provided by S.C. Congressman James E. Clyburn, the Sixth District Democrat who is U.S. House majority whip.

The banquet is planned for Saturday at the Colleton County High School Commons Area in Walterboro, chapter spokesman Johnnie Thompson said.

The Walterboro Army Air Field served as a training facility for the Tuskegee Airmen, which escorted bombers on more than 200 bombing missions over Europe in World War II. A Tuskegee Airmen Monument is located in Memorial Park at the Walterboro Colleton Area Regional Airport.

Thompson said the Colleton County High School Singers will perform the prelude music and the national anthem. The 437th Airlift Wing of Charleston Air Force Base will present and post the Colors.

A special presentation and unveiling is scheduled to take place at the event, Thompson said.

The banquet is held each year to honor the late Gen. Benjamin O. Davis, the first African American general in the U.S. Air Force, and "the father of the Tuskegee Airmen," Thompson said.

According to Thompson, Davis in 1941 became involved in a test program in Tuskegee, Ala. Davis and the 99th Pursuit Squadron, which became famous as the Tuskegee Airmen, were sent in 1943 to North Africa, but because the Germans had moved on, there was nothing to do.

Davis appealed to Congress for a mission, and the 99th was assigned, with other squadrons, to escort bombing missions. The Tuskegee Airmen provided escorts for more than 200 bomber missions and never lost a bomber to enemy fire, Thompson said.

Reach Edward C. Fennell at efennell@postandcourier.com or 745-5865.