Fotos para la historia.-

Photo By USAF.

Capt. Hannibal M. “Killer” Cox, F-51 Pilot, former Tuskegee Airmen , 35th FG, Korea 1951.

Colonel Cox had the distinction of serving in the Air Force during three wars. “Killer,” as he was known, received initial pilot training at Tuskegee Army Air Field in 1943. He served in the European theatre during World War II with the famed 99th Pursuit Squadron and flew over 100 missions upon his return to combat during the Korean Conflict.

He heeded the lure of combat once again when he volunteered for duty in Vietnam. He was one of two Black fighter pilots in the world who flew combat and was decorated for bravery in all three years. Upon his retirement from military life, he joined James O. Plinton as an executive at Eastern Airlines in the position of corporate director of affirmative action and urban affairs. He died in 1988. Hannibal Cox is one of the only two Black aviators to have served in three major wars. (1916-1988).

The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African-American military aviators in the United States armed forces. During World War II, African Americans in many U.S. states were still subject to the Jim Crow laws (Local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They mandated de jure racial segregation in all public facilities in Southern states of the former Confederacy). The American military was racially segregated, as was much of the federal government. The Tuskegee Airmen were subjected to racial discrimination, both within and outside the army. Despite these adversities, they trained and flew with distinction. All black military pilots who trained in the United States trained at Tuskegee, including five Haitians.

Sharpe Field is a private use airport located six nautical miles (11 km) northwest of the central business district of Tuskegee, a city in Macon County, Alabama. Formerly known as Tuskegee Army Airfield, Sharpe Field was used to train the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II. It provided advanced training for the graduates of nearby Moton Field. Most of the history of the Tuskegee Airmen was made at this site.