He had a 30-year career in the Air Force during which he became the first African American to command a stateside Air Force wing and a base in the integrated Air Force. He was a Tuskegee Airman, one of more than 900 black pilots trained at the segregated Tuskegee airfield in Alabama who flew patrol, strafing and escort missions during WWII. He fought in three wars, flew 409 combat missions, and helped rescue over 1,000 prisoners of war in Romania.
