| Double V: The Civil Rights Struggle of the Tuskegee Airmen Subjects: United States. Air Force -- Afro-Americans -- History; Air pilots Military -- United States -- History; World War 1939-1945 -- Participation Afro-American; World War 1914-1918 -- Participation Afro-American; Afro-Americans -- Civil rights; On April 12, 1945, the United States Army Air Force arrested 101 of its African American officers. They were charged with disobeying a direct order from a superior officer--a charge that could carry the death penalty upon conviction. They were accused of refusing to sign an order that would have placed them in segregated housing and recreational facilities. Their plight was virtually ignored by the press at the time, and books written about the subject did not detail the struggle these aviators underwent to win recognition of their civil rights. William M. Womack, Sr., served as a Tuskegee Airman with the 332nd Fighter Group in Italy.. He was recruited, in 1940, into the new Negro Air Corps as Director of Physical Training for the Tuskegee Airmen. Lawrence P. Scott worked as a State of Michigan administrator. |