For Youth – Red-Tail Angels: The Story of the Tuskegee Airmen of World War IIBy Patricia C. and Frederick L. McKissack
For Adults – Segregated Skies By Sandler Stanley
Overview
The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of African American pilots who fought prejudice and distrust for the right to fight for their country during WWII. The Airmen were known as the Red Tails because of the distinctive red color they painted the tails of their aircraft. The men proved themselves as worthy members of the air corps in campaigns in Morocco and Tunisia, North Africa and Italy with missions that carried them from Rimini to Berlin and back, and throughout Central Europe. Before their official formation there were pioneering men who fought as soldiers from horseback and in the air. The impact of the Tuskegee Airmen was realized in 1948 when President Truman ordered the desegregation of the armed forces and their legacy continues to today’s fighting men and women on Earth and in space.