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that was designed to prove that African Americans lacked the intel- ligence, judgment and coordination needed to fly aircraft in combat.Needless to say that experiment failed. They proved they could fly, and 10,000 more black kids also went to Tuskegee and learned to fix their planes, arm their planes, cook their food, and pump their fuel. Even after they proved they could fly, the U.S. generals did not want them in combat until Eleanor Roosevelt went to Tuskegee and took a ride with a black pilot and shamed the Army into deploying them into combat.Because the Airmen had trained for so long, when they finally reached the battle, not only did they fly, but they excelled in com- bat and proved their worth in the skies over Europe. The bomber crews appreciated the discipline of the Red Tailed P-51s flown by the 99th and later the 332nd fighter group because they stayed with the bombers instead of chasing after German aircraft leaving the bomb- ers unprotected.When the war ended and the crews returned stateside, they found nothing had really changed at home. The Army Air Corps wasstill segregated and gratitude they found from the bomber crews over- seas was gone.But that was about to change. In 1947 the U.S. Air Force was cre- ated and, from its inception, it was fully integrated. The success of the Tuskegee Airmen played a major role in that decision. The U.S. Air Force was the first major institution in America to be fully integrated.Integration of the USAF was the start long journey that continues today to stop the injustice of rac- ism in America. But the story of the Tuskegee Airmen is more than just a story about racial inequal- ity, it’s a story about overcoming obstacles that all people find in their lives. It is about having a goal or a dream that seems unattain- able and using the lessons of the Tuskegee Airmen to achieve it.The Tuskegee Airmen were a great example and in July of 2009, the rebuilt airplane flew again and we debuted it at AirVenture that summer to rave reviews. One of the exciting things that summerJULY 2011TWIN & TURBINE • 19