Many documentaries, articles, museum exhibits, books, and movies have treated the subject of the Tuskegee Airmen, the only black American military pilots in World War II. Most of these works have focused on their training and their subsequent accomplishments during combat. This publication goes further, using captioned photographs—many never published before—to trace the Airmen through the various stages of training, deployment, and combat. Hundreds of images also chronicle the critical support roles of non-flyers: doctors, nurses, mechanics, navigators, weathermen, parachute riggers, and other ground support personnel, all of whom contributed to the Airmen’s success.

Co-author Daniel Haulman Daniel Haulman is Chief, Organizational Division, at the Air Force Historical Research Agency, where he has worked since 1982.