Dr. Granville Coggs will receive the Congressional Gold Medal.

He is also an inventor of various devices for breast cancer biopsies and a proud inductee into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame.

At today's ceremony, Dr. Coggs will be joined by Riverside's Col. Ralph Smith and others as the highest civilian honor bestowed by Congress is given to the Tuskegee Airmen for their exceptional service to the country.

Col. Smith, president of the Buford Johnson Chapter of the Inland Empire Tuskegee Airmen and member of the national Tuskegee Airmen gold medal committee, was a driving force behind the campaign for recognition. Those efforts gathered speed when Congressman Charles Rangel of New York and Senator Carl Levin of Michigan introduced legislation to give the former airmen the congressional gold medal. In the spring of 2005 Congress voted to recognize the group who helped change the United States military and usher in the civil rights movements.

Harriette, wife of professor emeritus and historian Sterling Stuckey, is extremely proud of her heritage, " I've been fortunate to have two Tuskegee Airmen in my family,  besides  Dr. Granville Coggs, Phillip Turner, a cousin, (deceased) also served."