RED TAIL PILOTS IN THE SUNSET

Four Tuskegee Airmen share their stories in this oral history.

Broughton, the author of numerous nonfiction books, novels, and poetry collections, describes this collection of conversations as being among the “most cherished” of his interviews. Most readers will be familiar with the story of World War II’s Tuskegee Airmen, who “set records for efficiency” in escorting bombers in Europe yet were denied basic citizenship rights back home. What makes this book special is how the interview format centers the unique voices and varied experiences of the airmen themselves. Written in a question-and-answer format, the book offers short biographical sketches of four veterans before delving into the conversations. The subjects interviewed for the book include Howard Baugh of Virginia, who’d dreamed of flying ever since reading the stories of heroic pilots in World War I as a teenager. While covering their prowess in the skies, many of the interviews also highlight the racism of the era. William Holloman, for example, notes that, while he served as a pilot in three wars (World War II, Korea, and Vietnam), he could not find a commercial aviation job because of racist hiring practices. “Considered by most the first Black ‘Ace,’” Lee Archer II notes that his proudest moment “had nothing to do with the service.” Rather, it was his small role in advancing the cause of the Civil Rights Movement by contributing to the integration of the armed forces. There’s also Freddie Hutchins, who had a reputation as a “bit of a hell-raiser” but earned the respect of his all-white instructors. Hutchins (whose name is unfortunately misspelled as “Hutchens” in a couple of places, a rare editorial oversight) earned the moniker “Black Messiah” after his plane was shot down in a small Italian village. The villagers were on the brink of starvation, their homes having been raided by Nazis for food, and Hutchins’ appearance corresponded with the miraculous beaching of a 300-pound swordfish that fed the town. Adorned with a plethora of photographs and coming in at under 140 pages, this is a fascinating and accessible book.

A valuable repository of 20th-century Black history.