 |
| Home > Features > Feature - Tuskegee Airman donates medal to Alaska fighter squadron |
|
|
| |
| Photos | |
 |
Tuskegee Airman retired Col. Charles McGee donated his replica of the Congressional Gold Medal for display in the 302nd Fighter Squadron at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. President George W. Bush presented McGee and other Tuskegee Airmen with the medal in 2007 for their long-ago heroism. (Capt. Ashley Conner)
|
Download HiRes
|
|
|
|
Tuskegee Airman donates medal to Alaska fighter squadron
Posted 9/27/2012 Updated 9/27/2012
Email story
Print story
by Capt. Ashley Conner
477th Fighter Group Public Affairs
9/27/2012 - Citizen Airman/Oct. 2012 -- The 302nd Fighter Squad- ron at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska., is now home to a Congressional Gold Medal in Aviation.
Tuskegee Airman retired Col. Charles McGee presented his personal medal to Col. Bryan Radliff, 477th Fighter Group commander, during the 41st Annual Tuskegee Airmen Convention in Las Vegas, Nev., Aug. 2.
During World War II, McGee was a member of the 302nd FS. The unit painted the tails of its airplanes red, which led to the Tuskegee Airmen famously being known as the Red Tails.
The 302nd FS today flies the F-22 Raptor and falls under the 477th FG. The 477th and 302nd were reactivated at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in October 2007, becoming Air Force Reserve Command's first F-22 Raptor unit.
"Finish what I started," said McGee, who holds an Air Force record of 409 fighter combat missions flown in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, after shaking hands with a few members of the 477th who attended the convention.
"It is a humbling experience to be in the presence of such aviation greatness as Colonel McGee and the other Tuskegee Airmen," said Senior Airman Marren Clay, a crew chief who attended the medal presentation. "The Tuskegee Airmen began a tradition of greatness that I hope to carry on."
President George W. Bush presented McGee and the other Tuskegee Airmen the Congressional Gold Medal in 2007 for their long-ago heroism. Individual Airmen re- ceived bronze replicas, while the original gold medal resides at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
