RIVERSIDE

By Chris Levister

"Subspecies of the human population, failures, poor technicians and fighters, lacking initiative," that's how a 1925 study commissioned by the Army War College described the "Tuskegee Airmen" - America's first Black pilots, bombardiers, navigators and support personnel who trained and fought during World War II.

On March 29, the United States will finally honor the Tuskegee Airmen by awarding the group the Congressional Gold Medal at a ceremony in the Capitol's rotunda, along with their families. It is the highest civilian award bestowed by Congress, given for exceptional service and for lifetime achievement.

Known as the "Red Tail Angels," the Tuskegee Airmen distinguished themselves as exceptional military aviators who flew numerous bomber escort missions in the European theatre from 1944 through 1946 without losing a single bomber to enemy attack.

Col. Ralph W. Smith, VP Tuskegee Airmen Western Region and local chapter president points to a self-designed replica of the congressional gold medal to be awarded to 300 of the heroic airmen March 29 in the nation’s capitol.

"It's long overdue." That's Riverside resident Col. Ralph W. Smith a member of the Tuskegee Airmen gold medal committee, vice president of the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. Western Regional and president of the Buford Johnson Chapter of the Inland Empire Tuskegee Airmen.

For more than 30 years Smith has waged a tenacious often behind the scenes campaign to bring U.S. recognition to the 1,000 men who suffered unspeakable indignities while trying to serve their country.

"I came from a long line of family members who served in every branch of the military since 1868," says Smith. In the early 70's working as a research scientist at Northrop Aircraft, Smith learned four of his colleagues were Tuskegee Airmen. After hearing their stories Smith joined the airmen's Los Angeles unit.

Smith remembers quiet, reserved men who never gave up. "Although they earned respect in the air, the fliers endured racism and segregation on the ground." In spite of unbridled humiliation, after the war many of them became pillars of American society - doctors, lawyers, engineers, scientists, judges and educators.

"Their stories were empowering and heartbreaking. I had to do something," says Smith.

He did. In the mid 1980s he became president of the Inland chapter. He committed to work with lawmakers, civil rights leaders and powerful philanthropists to push for U.S. recognition. "We were repeatedly rebuffed and laughed at." He remembers a conspiracy to discredit the fliers and the campaign to honor the airmen with a postage stamp - torpedoed by the government. All the while Smith watched the obituaries pile up.

These American heroes were dying at the rate of 45 to 50 a year. Increasingly frustrated by government resistance, Smith turned to Dr. Ruth M. Jackson, director of UC Riverside's Tomas Rivera Library for help.

"I put Dr. Jackson in my car and drove her to Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. We spent hours in the school's library. There were impressive archival tributes to George Washington Carver and other great luminaries of the college. But there was something missing. Absent was evidence of the Institute's most famous legacy: The Tuskegee Airmen.

Smith's mission took flight when Jackson agreed to commission the Western Region Tuskegee Airmen Archive. With historical items donated by Smith and dozens of local and regional Tuskegee Airmen the collection opened in the library a year ago. Today the archive boasts a model of the P-51 Mustang bomber flown by the airmen along with an impressive array of memorabilia including surviving letters, papers, photographs, petitions, diaries, oral histories, awards and honors.

"This is the culmination of a huge effort by many people to honor the Tuskegee Airmen. They have earned it. They deserve it," said Jackson.

University archivist Chuck Wilson says the hope is the public will come away from the collection with a greater sense of history and social responsibility.

"The archive has been very well received by scholars, researchers and school children. Many of the visitors leave in awe. It's clearly a history that must be told." Links to the exhibition housed in the library's Special Collections Department can also be viewed online at http://library.ucr.edu/?view+tuskegee/links.html.

The national fight for recognition gathered momentum in 2005 when U.S. Rep Charles Rangel (D-NY) and Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich) introduced legislation to give the former airmen the congressional gold medal. Smith served on the historic gold medal committee.

On April 11, 2005 by unanimous decision Congress voted to recognize the revolutionary airmen who helped change the structure of the United States military and paved the way for the civil rights movement. Using funds from his foundation Smith designed a replica of the Congressional Gold Medal. The crystal commemorative served as the cornerstone of a recent UCR celebration honoring the airmen.

Smith believes Americans can learn a lot about honor and self determination from the plight of the airmen, as General Daniel ‘Chappie' James would say, "This is my country, I love her, I'll protect her, I will not stop until she treats me the way she should."

March 29 Col. Ralph Smith will stand in the Capitol rotunda and gaze at the official gold medal. "I'm going to look into the eyes of those heroes who lived to see the day and feel a deep sense of pride. They dared not to fail. They never gave up. They never gave up."