HCR47 - Designating the fourth Thursday of March as Tuskegee Airmen Commemoration Day for a 10-year period ending in 2035.

  89R3294 BPG-D     By: Cook H.C.R. No. 47       CONCURRENT RESOLUTION          WHEREAS, One of the most celebrated military units in our   nation's history, the Tuskegee Airmen played a crucial role in the   Allied victory in World War II and in the advancement of civil   rights in the United States; and          WHEREAS, Although Black pilots served with French forces   during World War I, African Americans were excluded from the   U.S. Army Air Corps, even as the nation began preparing for another   global conflict in the late 1930s and early 1940s; the NAACP,   churches, and newspapers urged an end to this discrimination, and   President Franklin D. Roosevelt promised to meet their request   during his 1940 campaign; following his victory, he overruled his   top generals to order the creation of a separate flight training   program for Black aviators in 1941; and          WHEREAS, The 99th Pursuit Squadron, later renamed the 99th   Fighter Squadron, was activated as the first Black flying unit in   March of that year; its base was established at Tuskegee Institute   in Alabama, one of the nation's foremost African American colleges,   which already housed a successful civilian pilot training program   and owned a small private airfield; many military leaders of the   time considered Black soldiers inferior and expected the initiative   to fail, but the staff at Tuskegee Army Air Field immediately began   their efforts to prepare accomplished aviators; Colonel Noel F.   Parrish, the airfield's commander, mandated the same rigorous   training that was provided at other bases, and the determined   individuals who made up ranks of the Tuskegee Airmen eagerly took up   the challenge of becoming military pilots; and          WHEREAS, Led by West Point alumnus and future four-star   general Benjamin O. Davis Jr., a member of Tuskegee's first   graduating class, the pilots of the 99th Fighter Squadron initially   proved themselves in battles over North Africa and Italy; the unit   later joined three other Black squadrons, the 100th, 301st, and   302nd, to form the 332nd Fighter Group; from bases in Italy, they   destroyed numerous enemy aircraft and targets on the ground and at   sea; on escort missions for the 15th Air Force, which had been   losing a dozen bombers a day, the Tuskegee Airmen achieved a   dramatic turnaround, losing just five bombers on 205 missions;   their success in protecting Allied aircraft earned them the   nickname the Red-Tailed Angels, in reference to the crimson color   scheme of their planes; and          WHEREAS, Between 1942 and 1946, nearly 1,000 Army Air Corps   pilots, 20 bomber pilots, and 16,000 ground personnel graduated   from Tuskegee; the airmen flew over 15,000 missions and earned more   than 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses, among myriad other   decorations; their record of excellence contributed to President   Harry Truman's decision to end segregation in the military with an   executive order in 1948; moreover, many former Tuskegee Airmen   became leaders in the Air Force, their communities, and the Civil   Rights Movement in the decades that followed; and          WHEREAS, Through their courage, skill, and patriotic   service, the Tuskegee Airmen valiantly answered their nation's call   to duty in World War II, contributing immeasurably to the   integration of the military and American society as a whole, and   their achievements are indeed deserving of special recognition;   now, therefore, be it          RESOLVED, That the 89th Legislature of the State of Texas   hereby designate the fourth Thursday of March as Tuskegee Airmen   Commemoration Day; and, be it further          RESOLVED, That, in accordance with the provisions of   Section 391.004(d), Government Code, this designation remain in   effect until the 10th anniversary of the date this resolution is   finally passed by the legislature.