Red Tail: A Tuskegee Airman’s Rendezvous with Destiny

by Capt Robert L Martin, Karen Patterson (primary_contributor)

When they were given the opportunity, finally, to prove themselves in the air and in battle, Black fighter pilots—the Tuskegee Airmen, or Red Tails, as they became known—turned in an unrivaled record of protection for bombers on their mission to stamp out Hitler's tyranny.

Robert L. Martin, an eager young man from mostly white Dubuque, Iowa, was thrust into a segregated unit in the hostile Deep South for his military flight training before deploying to Italy. Overseas, he earned a Distinguished Flying Cross early on for his bravery. On his 64th mission, he was shot down while strafing an airfield.

After parachuting from his burning plane, Martin spent five weeks behind enemy lines before being reunited with his squadron shortly before V-E Day. He earned a Purple Heart and an Air Medal with six Oak Leaf Clusters as well as the Distinguished Flying Cross. Yet, when he returned home, he found that nothing had changed in the racism he encountered, not even for a decorated combat veteran.

Told with honesty, humor, and tension-filled detail, Red Tail reveals how one man’s bravery and skill helped win the war and smash stereotypes.

200 pages, Paperback

Published February 7, 2024

Reviews

[Ronald J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of Captain Robert L. Martin, a Red Tail airman who passed away at the age of ninety-nine. Om 1940, President Roosevelt announced that the new air corps was committed to admitting and training Black pilots. Even Charles Lindbergh believed that aviation was solely the province of the white man. Also, Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt during a tour of a clinic at Tuskegee Institute asked, “Can Negroes really fly airplanes?” She was given a flight, as her Secret Service contingent panicked). A new training base was constructed in cooperation with historically Black Tuskegee University, and Martin graduated from that program in January, 1944. They faced incredible discrimination in the military, which didn’t think Blacks could be pilots. One they saw combat, at a completely segregated air base at Pantelleria, Italy, all doubts were removed. Bomber group pilots began to ask for the Red Tails to escort them. Even though Martin never shot an enemy plane down, you will be captivated by his stories of escorting the B-17s and B-24s, including how he survived being shot down. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross was awarded to him on October 6, 1944. In 1948, president Truman ordered the integration of the armed services, and this began with the newly formed US Air Force. Karen Patterson is the author of Captain Martin’s story in this work, as told to her by him. It’s an inspiring story that will make you angry seen through the lens of today’s standards. His line: “They had to keep us segregated. The only place Blacks and whites could meet in the military was on the killing field in the sky.” That the Red Tail airmen were able to “Rise above adversity,” and still risk their lives for a country that didn’t treat them equally is a story worth pondering.

Notable
prices of merchandise were noted in an alphabetic code, which made it easy for the clerks to change the prices of items on certain customers and pocket the difference. This went on for years, by the way, until J. C. Penney came along and hung the prices right on the merchandise.

I also helped to get a portion of Interstate 57 in the Chicago area named for the Tuskegee Airmen.

[Bruce Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Red Tail

I thought I was getting a book about the Tuskegee airmen. It turned out to be a first person account of one of them. As a black fighter pilot heack discussed his training and battle experiences. He also discussed the challenges he faced as a black man in a white army. Many white people saw them as black people before they saw they were men who were in the service of their country. I enjoyed the book.