More to the Tuskeegee story in Kokomo
City's tie to historic airmen celebrated at IU Kokomo Feb. 26
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Nationally recognized historian and author Zellie Orr visited the campus of IU Kokomo Feb. 26. Quite impressive was she in communicating to members of the Kokomo community in Kresge Auditorium the immense knowledge she has of the Tuskegee Airmen; more in particular the Red Tails squadron.
Orr cleared up some misconceptions about the Tuskegee men and women, who often are thought of as all black. Not so. She spoke of how there were people of many different shades and cultural backgrounds who made up the group, including African American, Latino, and even white. The Tuskegee Airmen grounds crew, the medics, mechanics, and so many more were essential to the success of those men who took to the sky.
Lucien Madding, staff at IU Kokomo stated, “Zellie Orr did an excellent job of sharing part of the back story of the Tuskegee Airmen. There were some things I knew from my own readings, and Orr brought out information I didn't know. Great presentation!”
To open the presentation, Robin Ligon Williams gave honor and credit to so many people who have worked to keep the history of those ordinary citizens of Howard County and the city of Kokomo who left this place and put their lives on the line for all of America. Men of Kokomo who attended Tuskegee included Major John Cunningham, Flight Chief Andrew T Dunigan Jr., LTC Bennett Hardy, LT John McClure, and Gordon Morgan.
Orr shined a light on several of these great men and found further that few played a greater significance in the history of the Tuskegee Airmen than originally thought.
Part of the program included viewing of the movie “Red Tails” which featured many of the great black stars of today, including Cuba Gooding Jr. The movie focused in on members of the 332nd Fighter group known as the Red Tails, which even though having to fight two wars, one on the battlefields of Europe and against Jim Crow laws at home and overseas, it is reported that in 15,000 missions the Tuskegee Airmen were near perfect in their missions, escorting bombers. It was a necessary task to win the war.
Cheryl Beyioku, a faculty member at IU Kokomo, was excited about the community response. “It was also great to have so many people from the community in attendance,” she said.
Many family members attended and were proud to represent their loved ones who were members of the elite Tuskegee Airmen. Carolyn Reed, cousin of Maj. John Cunningham was present. Celestine Johnson, relative of Bennett Hardy also son of airman Gordon Morgan, was in attendance.
Jerry Paul, an extraordinary figure in Kokomo was present, an event he wouldn’t miss for the world. He received a standing ovation from everyone in the room while being recognized by his family. Paul, an IU Kokomo alumnus, is partly responsible for the Veterans memorial located next to Championship Park, and fully responsible for the Veterans women memorial on the northeast corner of the courthouse square in downtown Kokomo.
Williams and Tammy Mohr, a retired member of UAW Local 1166 and active member of the local UAW retirees’ organization, raised more than $10,000 in two weeks leading up to the IU Kokomo event. Their tenacity to fundraise for a probable mural project to recognize the five Tuskegee airmen from Kokomo is commendable. A major part of that fundraising effort was the sale of t-shirts representing the UAW and the Tuskegee airmen.
President of Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Kokomo Craig Severns attended the event and made a significant contribution to the cause as well.
Orr was a star in the shining bright lights. She was most recently recognized around the time of the Super Bowl this year by the NFL for sharing her expertise on the Tuskegee Airmen. It was an awe-inspiring thing to witness the level of humility a person can have while receiving so much attention for her gift of researching and communicating vital pieces of information concerning not only Black history, but the history of America.
If there was one thing to take away from the “Red Tails” presentation, it was that there is so much more to a story than one might initially think. Always make a greater effort to dig a little deeper to find the truth.