Thursday, January 19, 2012

Red Tails and Tall Tales

One would be hard-pressed to name a city in America without a Holocaust memorial, though it’s difficult to understand why this entirely European tragedy must be constantly mentioned in the United States.

One would be equally hard-pressed to name a city in America without a street named after the Tuskegee Airmen, or an airport, Air Force base, or military installation deprived of a huge exhibit honoring the Red Tails.

At the National Air and Space Museum outside Washington, DC, the Spirit of Tuskegee—this holiest of planes—overshadows the other exhibits not for being the plane that broke the sound barrier, but for being the vehicle that propelled black people to break the infinitely more important color barrier.

“That the glorification of the black pilots is almost entirely based on lies—it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that 1986’s Iron Eagle is based on more truth—doesn’t matter.”

Schoolchildren across America watch HBO’s 1995 The Tuskegee Airmen movie as the source material for this courageous story of black people proving they could fly planes just as well as whitey. (Never mind that less than two percent of pilots in the US military today are black and that major commercial airlines show similarly low quotients of black pilots.)

Does it matter that the 1995 movie is largely a Hollywood production based on now-discredited lies such as the “never losing a bomber” myth? Not really. Only a Tuskegee Airmen Denier—basically the equivalent of a Nazi sympathizer—would dare question the legitimacy of the “Red Tails” story. America has racially progressed to such a point that the mere thought of questioning the official Tuskegee Airmen story would be on par with a European asking if “six million Jews” really died in the concentration camps.

Today, George Lucas has decided to one-up Tyler Perry’s determination to be the lone filmmaker who makes movies targeted primarily to black people by releasing Red Tails. The film purports to tell the true story of those black fighter pilots who trained at Morton Field in Tuskegee, Alabama, ultimately defeating the twin evils of Jim Crow and Nazi Germany in the process.

Much of the glory surrounding the Tuskegee Airmen’s success was situated around the superlative, almost unbelievable tale that not one of the bombers they escorted was ever lost. For 62 years this story went unchallenged, largely because of the reverence and esteem that had been built up toward these black aviators who were so pivotal in the integration of not only the armed forces, but America as a whole.

It wasn’t until a dreaded Tuskegee Airmen Denier by the name of Dr. Daniel Haulman came along in 2007 and actually researched this story—started by black journalist Roi Ottley and quickly picked up by black newspaper The Chicago Defender in 1945—that the truth came to the surface.

10 comments:

  1. I am getting tired of the race baiting BS.

    I have other thoughts, but will hold my breath for now. What do we have here 13% of the population blaming me, a white guy screw them!!

    I will stop there.

    Mozart

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  2. Interesting.

    I had a history professor at UNI whose first words to our class were "Never forget that history is nothing more than His Story. Take it with a grain of salt."

    Still going to go see the movie. I saw the trailer in High Def... Lucas is the master of that sort of thing. :)

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  3. I have other thoughts, but will hold my breath for now.

    :)

    His Story.

    Good point for in this instance, that is the problem and not the winner writes the history.

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  4. The movie trailer puts me in quite a conundrum. I LOVE me some P-51s, but the pre-flight scrum with the pilots acting like NFL players(or cheerleaders)..."to the last plane...to the last bullet...we fight...we fight...we fight!"

    Please...

    No WW2 fighter pilot...black or white...EVER did any stupid crap like that back in those days.

    I refuse to believe otherwise.

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  5. .."to the last plane...to the last bullet...we fight...we fight...we fight!"

    Exactly what I didn't like.:)

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  6. I recall when there was some contradictory evidence on the veracity of no vs some bombers lost with the Airmen. Sometimes pride causes people to tweak their stories if part of it is right. That is human nature and I doubt it will change. It is up to disciplined historians to ferret out the real truth vs. the imagined truth. The observation in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is whether to print the truth or the legend, always print the legend is true for this story and any other historical story. The struggles and accomplishments of the Tuskegee Airmen are well documented and us historical anal types are never going to be happy with how Hollywood portrays and distorts the historical truth. My late friend, the eminent historian/living historian Brian Pohanka said he a had a love/hate relationship with Hollywood. Love because a lot of us got interested in history thru film, hate because Hollywood usually screws it up and gets it wrong. They have improved over the years but historical errors to us living historians are like fingernails on a blackboard!!!!!! The key is to keep engaged so we will continue to have SOME influence on those who shape our historical image. I admit to being biased as my late cousin Lawrence Miller was an Airman and my dad Theodore Henderson had passed the test to report for training but got drafted into the Army before he could report an got stuck there. Dad said he was one sick puppy as he really wanted to fly. When Korea broke out, he took the admission test again and passed and spent several months down at the air base outside of San Antonio where he logged about 30 hours of flying time solo before he washed out. According to my dad (who doesn't suffer fools gladly) he couldn't put up with the usual BS the officers threw out at the recruits. You're scared to death at 18 but can read people like an eagle at 25. On top of that, he was in love with Mom and er....was a bit distracted ;-))) So he bounced his plane on landing on purpose to wash out, at least that's what he told me ;-) He always regretted not being able to fly in WWII and wondered how his life might have been different. He at least got to fly which is more than more folks can say. The impact of the Airmen created an ongoing source of pride and hope to the black community during the war when legal and social restrictions of black people reached it's zenith in this country. Their sacrifice and service is still very much a source of pride today and I can count several Airmen as past acquaintances. I think with the passage of time the historical record can be presented as it was not as some folks wanted it. The Airmen can handle it. It still doesn't detract from their accomplishments and impact during and after the war. I am currently trying to interview as many black WWII vets (all services) as I can while they are still here for a book I am writing. If you know of any, please let me know.
    Brock, regarding the chant "we fight", I believe there is some veracity regarding that but I will check it out with my TA contacts and let you know. Right now my brain is a bit fogged on that detail ;-0!! I plan on seeing the movie next week and will be interested in how it compares to the HBO film The Tuskegee Airmen from 1995.

    Anita

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  7. always print the legend is true for this story and any other historical story.

    Damn, if that ain't the truth.:)

    You know when I first read this, I thought about you as I remembered talking about the unit and your family, but it was quite a while ago. Thanks for bringing my mind up to par.:)

    ...was a bit distracted ;-)))

    Can't imagine why.........

    the chant "we fight", I believe there is some veracity regarding that but I will check it out with my TA contacts and let you know.

    Please do, for if there is, I need to correct the source from which I posted this. Hope you are well, as haven't heard from you in quite awhile.

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  8. Thanks for your feedback Brock! Yeah, Mom was a definite head turner in her day, I can understand why Dad washed out on purpose! Check my FB family album and you can see why! LOL!! I am doing well, have been dealing with aging parent problems, Xmas wasn't exactly fun, Mom ended up in the hospital on Christmas Day, spent 9hours there with my sister where we discovered she had an undiagnosed heart arrhythmia, not unusual for an Alzheimer's patient ;-(( As we were leaving, she suddenly coded and there was a mass invasion of docs and nurses in for the resuscitation. Thankfully she bounced back after 20 sec of compression, suction and O2. She did not need cardioversion. She was hospitalized with an external pacemaker and operated on for a permanent pacemaker Tues,, Mon still being a holiday and not up to full staffing. Mom later complained of her chest hurting ;-0!!! I wonder why?!! She is definitely tough, even at 84 and today was transferred from the medical ward at her assisted living facility back to her apartment. Dad (they got divorced in 75) at 86 is in a nursing home and has lost about 60% of his mental faculties within the last 6 months. It's tough seeing your parents decline but on the flip side, we have been blessed to have had them with us this long. I recall about 6 years ago when my folks started having health problems after a lifetime of health, my younger nonmedical sister Rena exclaimed "Mom and Dad are falling apart"!!! I replied to her, "Rena, be grateful we have had our parents this long, and don't feel sorry for ourselves. Think of the children who are orphans from 9-11 and will never know their parents. We truly are blessed.

    Anita

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  9. PS: Also check out Dad's WWII album too! I am serious too if you know any WWII black veterans as I am in a race against time to interview as many as I can while they are still here.

    Anita

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  10. Thank you for the update and I am sorry your Christmas had such turmoil, but am happy everything turned out well. I'll go checkout the albums now!:)

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