On July 19, 1941, the U.S. Air Force began a program in Tuskegee, Alabama to train black Americans as military pilots. At the time, the Army was segregated, and only whites were allowed to fly. In the five years that followed, 992 black pilots graduated, receiving commissions and pilot wings. These black World War II pilots, who fought both fascism and racism, became known as the Tuskegee Airman.
