COLUMBIA, S.C. — During World War II, an all-Black fighter group entered the fight against Germany. While it was 82 years ago, the South Carolina Historic Aviation Foundation hosted an open house to remember the sacrifices made all that time ago.
Black history is all about reaching back into the past to forge the future. Members of the Spann Watson Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen's Association agree.
“Keeping a legacy alive is telling young people you can do anything that you think you can’t do," Marvin Williams said.
The Red Tails were an All-African American fighter group during World War II. The group got its name from its unique plane design, Red Tails. Many of those men were from the Midlands of South Carolina.
“All of the original Tuskegee Airmen are maybe 100 years old, all of the things they did will eventually die with them," Larry Anderson with the Spann Watson Chapter said.
To prevent that from happening, the group continues to inform about what those men did during the war.
On Saturday, the South Carolina Historic Aviation Foundation took a flight into World War II to honor trailblazers of the past.
“I think Tuskegee Airmen is one of those examples of something that was in a period of time we don’t know about right now," Kenneth Barry said. "It’s just so amazing that those guys were tenacious enough to get it done."
While no Tuskegee Airmen were present, their stories were.
“This man here is Spann Washington, the chapter is named after him," Williams said. "I called him. He was honored just to have a chapter named after him. He came for the dedication back in 2000 in Columbia, South Carolina.”
And the history lessons didn’t end with their stories.
“This particular RV-8 was built by my friend Scott Mcelroy. He spent 20 years building it and, along the way, we had a lot of conversations about Tuskegee Airmen," James Clark said. "He decided to honor the Tuskegee airmen paint scheme in their honor."