Freeman Field mutiny
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The Freeman Field mutiny was a series of incidents at
Background
The Tuskegee Airmen
Before and during
In 1940, in response to pressure from prominent African-American leaders such as
Origin of the 477th Bombardment Group (M)
Continued pressure from African-American civilian leaders led the Army to let blacks train as members of bomber crews, a step that opened many more skilled combat roles to them. On January 15, 1944, the Army re-activated the 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) to train African-American aviators to fly the B-25J Mitchell twin-engine medium bomber in combat.
Under the command of Colonel
The 477th also suffered from
Relocation of the 477th to Kentucky
On May 5, 1944, possibly out of fear of a repeat of the previous summer's
The protest at Freeman Field
The incidents of April 5 and 6
The 477th began moving by train to Freeman Field on March 1, 1945. Word soon got back to the remaining African-American officers at Godman that Colonel Selway had created two separate officers' clubs at Freeman: Club Number One for use by "trainees," all of whom were black; and Club Number Two for use by "instructors," all of whom were white. Led by
There had already been an attempt to integrate Club Number Two on March 10, when two groups of black officers entered it and were refused service; but the officers still at Godman decided to push the issue to the point of arrest if necessary. On April 5, the last of them left for Freeman. Arriving there late in the afternoon, they began to go in small groups to Club Number Two to seek service.
The first group of three officers was turned away by
Base Regulation 85-2
After investigating the incidents of April 5 and 6, Colonel Torgils G. Wold,
To make sure that none of the African-American officers could deny knowledge of the new regulation, Colonel Selway had his deputy commander,
- sign the certification;
- write and sign their own individual certificates in which they did not have to acknowledge that they understood the regulation; or
- face arrest under the 64th Article of War for disobeying a direct order by a superior officer in time of war, an offence that technically could be punished by death.
The board carried out the interviews on April 11. One hundred and one officers refused to sign and were placed under arrest in quarters.
Release of the 101
The 101 arrestees were returned to Godman Field to await trial. In the meantime, pressure from African-American organizations, labor unions and members of Congress was brought to bear on the War Department to drop the charges against them. On orders from
The three officers accused of "jostling" or "shoving" Lieutenant Rogers on the night of April 5 received a general court-martial in July.
Ten officers appointed by General Hunter presided over the court-martial. They were Colonel Benjamin O. Davis Jr., Captain
Second Lieutenants Marsden A. Thompson and Shirley R. Clinton were acquitted. Lieutenant Terry was acquitted of the charge of disobeying an order, but was convicted of the charge of jostling Lieutenant Rogers, for which he was fined $150, payable in three monthly installments, suffered loss of rank and received a dishonorable discharge.
Aftermath
As a result of the protest, the 477th was relocated back to Godman Field, and two of its four bomb squadrons (the 616th and 619th) inactivated. An all-black fighter squadron, the 99th FS, was added to the group, which was re-designated the 477th Composite Group on June 22, 1945. Colonel Benjamin O. Davis Jr., was appointed as commanding officer of the group on June 21, 1945, and took command on July 1. Black officers replaced white officers in subordinate command and supervisory positions. Training was to be completed by August 31, but the war ended on August 14 with Japan's surrender.
Never deployed in combat, the 477th Composite Group was downsized when the war ended. In 1946, it was reassigned to
In 1948, President Harry S. Truman issued Executive Order 9981, racially integrating the United States Armed Services.
When Freeman Field was inactivated in 1948, 2,241 acres (9 km2) of the former base became Freeman Municipal Airport; 240 acres (1.0 km2) went for agricultural training in the Seymour Community Schools; and 60 acres (240,000 m2) became an industrial park.
In 1995, in response to requests from some of the veterans of the 477th, the Air Force officially removed General Hunter's letters of reprimand from the permanent files of 15 of the 104 officers charged in the Freeman Field protest and promised to remove the remaining 89 letters when requests were filed. Roger Terry received a full pardon, restoration of rank and a refund of his fine.[4]
The events at Freeman Field, along with his own experiences in the USAAF, were the basis of the novel in 1949.
See also
References
- ISBN 9781455601257. Archivedfrom the original on 15 November 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
- ^ Watch the Yard. "Fly Nupes: Photos Of The Handsome And Daring Men Of Kappa Alpha Psi Who Served As Tuskegee Airmen." https://www.watchtheyard.com/kappas/tuskegee-airmen/14/ Archived 2021-10-20 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Fine Bomber Pilot $150". The Pittsburgh Courier. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 1945-07-14. p. 4. Archived from the original on 2021-10-06. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
- ^ Slater, Eric (20 October 1995). "After 50 Years, Cloud of Injustice Is Lifted : Race: Conviction lifted for black pilot's protest at white officers club". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 24 September 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
Notes
Further reading
- "James Allison, Freeman Field Research Paper, 1995, Collection Guide" (PDF). Indiana Historical Society. 2003-01-27. Retrieved 2012-10-19.
- Ray Boomhower, "Nobody Wanted Us: Black Aviators at Freeman Field", Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History (Indiana Historical Society) (Summer 1993), pp. 38–45.
- Charles E. Francis and Adolph Caso, The Tuskegee Airmen: The Men Who Changed a Nation Branden Books, 1997, Chapter 20. ISBN 0-8283-2029-2
- Morris J. MacGregor, Jr., Integration of the Armed Forces, 1940-1965, Department of the Army Defense Studies Series (EBook #20587), 2007, chapter 2. [1]
- Maurer Maurer, Air Force Combat Units of World War II, Office of Air Force History (1961). ISBN 0-405-12194-6
- Maurer Maurer, Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II, Air Force Historical Study 82, Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-8317-1501-4
- John D. Murphy, The Freeman Field Mutiny: A Study in Leadership, Air Command And Staff College, 1997. [2] (pdf format)
- James C. Warren, The Freeman Field Mutiny, San Rafael, CA:Donna Ewald, Publisher, 1995. ISBN 0-9660818-0-3
External links
- Afro-American Almanac:The Freeman Field Mutiny
- Official Site for Freeman Army Air Field (Freeman Field)
- IndianaMilitary.Org: Tuskegee Airmen at Freeman Army Air Field
- National Park Service:Stories:The Freeman Field Mutiny
- Atterbury-Bakalar Air Museum: The Tuskegee Airmen
- Silver Wings and Civil Rights: The Fight to Fly
- Page Two of the Story of the Tuskegee Airmen?
- Roger Bill Terry article
- Eyewitness to History: Roger "Bill" Terry Remembers
- Tavis Smiley Interviews Roger Terry
- The Freeman Field Mutiny by Tuskegee Airman O. Oliver Goodall
- Oral history interview with Tuskegee Airman, Connie Nappier, present at the Freeman Field Mutiny from the Veterans History Project at Central Connecticut State University
- Tracy Fisher, "Protests: Freeman Field," Graduate project prepared at George Mason University, Spring 2010.
- Wings for this Man, an AAF morale film narrated by Ronald Reagan about African American combat pilots. Footage of Freeman Field trainees appears at about 6:31 into the film.
- Indiana Histotical Bureau: Background on Richard S. Freeman, namesake of Freeman Field