Tuskegee Airmen awarded Purple Hearts
Flight Officer William P. Armstrong and 2nd Lt. Walter P. Manning were killed during a battle over Austria.
Lt. Fred L. Brewer Jr. disappeared during a mission over Germany.
Lt. Roger D. Brown was commended for being the first Army Air Corps pilot to successfully crash-land a P-39 Airacobra at sea.
One of the youngest pilots in the U.S. Army Air Corps, 1st Lt. Gene C. Browne was forced to crash-land in Germany and was a prisoner of war for more than a year.
Lt. James A. Calhoun was killed during a strafing mission on a Yugoslavia air field.
Lt. John H. Chavis disappeared in the clouds soon after take-off for a bomber escort mission to Germany.
Capt. Alfonza W. Davis was not one to shy from a dangerous situation, a trait that helped him collect an aerial victory.
After nearly a year of successful missions, engine trouble forced Capt. Lawrence E. Dickson to parachute from his plane over Italy.
Lt. Alwayne M. Dunlap was featured in a newspaper article that published days before he was killed.
Lt. Wilson V. Eagleson II's military career spanned three decades and three wars.
Lt. Maurice V. Esters was forced to bail from his plane over the Adriatic Sea when his engine failed.
Flight Officer James H. Fischer shot down an enemy plane, then was forced to parachute from his plane when he ran out of fuel.
Engine trouble forced 2nd Lt. Samuel J. Foreman to try to return to base.
Lt. Frederick D. Funderburg Jr. claimed the first aerial victory for the 301st Fighter Squadron.
The pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group arrived in Italy feeling they had a lot to prove, and somewhat unprepared for the realities of war.
In the span of a week, 1st Lt. William W. "Chubby" Green Jr. collected his second aerial victory, was shot down, helped deliver supplies to a group of Yugoslav Partisans and returned to his base.
Lt. William E. Griffin was shot down over Germany and spent more than a year at a prisoner of war camp.
Very little has been documented about Lt. John L. Hamilton's military career.
Lt. Maceo A. Harris Jr. was hunting for enemy planes, and ended up saving a lost Allied bomber.
Capt. Freddie E. Hutchins assigned the same nickname to each of his planes: "Little Freddie." By the end of World War II, Hutchins was flying …
Like many of the Tuskegee Airmen, 2nd Lt. Oscar D. Hutton Jr. was highly educated, earning his master's degree at the University of Chicago.
Lt. Col. Alexander "Jeff" Jefferson recieved his Purple Heart 57 years after he was wounded.
Lt. Samuel Jefferson was killed when he tried to check on a downed pilot.
Lt. Charles B. Johnson was killed during a low-flying mission over the Mediterranean Sea.
Lt. Langdon E. Johnson collected an aerial victory six months after arriving in Europe.
Very little has been documented about Pfc. James W. Jones' military career.
Staff Sgt. Alvin H. Kent was the first non-commissioned officer of the 332nd Fighter Group to be awarded a Purple Heart.
One of the first Tuskegee graduates, Capt. Erwin B. Lawrence Jr. eventually led the 99th Fighter Squadron for six months.
Lt. Samuel G. Leftenant was killed after colliding with another plane over Austria.
After his plane was hit by flak and crashed, Capt. Richard D. Macon spent most of military career as a prisoner of war.
Little is known about 1st Lt. Thomas Malone's military career.
Lt. Walter P. Manning and Flight Officer William P. Armstrong were killed during a dogfight over Austria in 1945.
Engine trouble forced Capt. Andrew Maples Jr. to bail from his plane over the Adriatic Sea. Although his friends were optimistic, Maples was not seen again.
After bailing from his plane, Lt. Andrew D. Marshall was missing for nearly two weeks before returning to his base in Italy.
Lt. Robert L. Martin likes to say he flew "63 and a half" missions during World War II.
Lt. George T. McCrumby's dramatic tale of heroism and luck drew attention back in the United States.
Lt. James L. McCullin and Lt. Sherman H. White Jr. were the first black pilots killed in combat.
Lt. Col. Armour G. McDaniel Sr. was a prisoner of war for a month after leading the 332nd Fighter Group on a mission that would earn it a Distinguished Unit Citation.
Little has been documented about 1st Lt. Roland W. Moody's military career other than his unusual death.
Capt. Christopher W. Newman survived a fiery crash, a crash-landing over the Adriatic Sea, and he kept flying.
Lt. Starling B. Penn spent 10 months in a German prisoner of war camp after his plane was shot down.
Little has been documented about Flight Officer Leland H. Pennington's military career.
Lt. James R. Polkinghorne was last seen heading into thick clouds over Italy.
Five years after he disappeared, 2nd Lt. Ronald W. Reeves was awarded a Purple Heart.
Lt. Cornelius G. Rogers disappeared over Italy after reporting engine trouble.
Lt. Alphonso Simmons walked away from one plane crash, but was killed a few months later in a second crash.
Several years after World War II, Lt. John S. Sloan wrote an autobiography about his experience as a pilot and his Purple Heart.
"I flew 133 missions. On the last one, I didn't make it back. It was Friday the 13th. It was my lucky day — I'm still alive," Capt. Luther H. Smith said in 2007 before the Tuskegee Airmen were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.
Capt. Leon W. "Woodie" Spears grew up around planes. In a speech, he recalled hearing the drone of planes at the Pueblo Municipal Airport, next door to his family's Colorado home.
Lt. Roosevelt Stiger was killed after his plane plummeted into the Adriatic Sea.
Very little has been recorded about 2nd Lt. Norvell Stoudmire's military career.
Capt. Robert B. Tresville was appointed one of the first leaders of his squadron, and led several combat missions in Europe before his death.
Lt. Quitman C. Walker's service medals, including his Purple Heart, were issued nearly 60 years after they were awarded.
Lt. Sherman H. White Jr. and Lt. James L. McCullin were the first black pilots killed in combat.
Lt. Robert H. Wiggins escorted a struggling bomber to safety before crashing in the Adriatic Sea.
Mechanical trouble forced 2nd Lt. Leonard R. Willette to try to bail from his plane over southern Germany.
Lt. William F. Williams Jr. disappeared while trying to climb out of dense clouds over Austria.
Lt. Henry A. Wise Jr. flew 13 missions over France, Romania, Germany and Italy before he was forced to parachute from his plane and was captured.
Flight Officer Carl J. Woods was last seen during a cloudy mission to Austria.
Lt. Frank N. Wright was killed after chasing an enemy plane over Germany.
Little has been recorded about 2nd Lt. Beryl Wyatt's military career.
Lt. Albert L. Young was last seen over Vienna, Austria.
During World War II, 72 Tuskegee Airmen shot down 112 enemy planes. Members of the 332nd Fighter Group downed at least 10 airplanes on four se…
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Staff Sgt. Alvin H. Kent earned his Purple Heart in April 1944, when he was wounded during a German bomber raid on an air base in Italy.
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The unit's roster lists dozens of wounded or killed airmen.
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