Re: The bravery and patriotism of Tuskegee Airmen during WWII...

This morning I had the opportunity, along with others, to take a group of youth from the West End to a private showing of the film, the Red Tails.

The film is an explosive effort by producer George Lucas (Star Wars fame) to present a big budget action production for general release using an all black cast. 20th Century Fox put on the mantle of social accountability for the film industry by distributing the film after other distributors had refused.

The elements of action flowed throughout the film: passionate tenderness and a marriage proposal to a beautiful Italian lady, military macho, bitter racialism and name calling with reference to Germans and African-Americans. The dog-fighting scenes were exceptionally brutal and outstanding. Both the German and United States Governments underestimated the technical skills, discipline and bravery of the Tuskegee Airmen.

The airmen escorted the bombers with a fighting spirit and dignity that said bring back the men alive and well to their homes and families. They wanted to do more than capture a swastika for a "notch" on planes that were frequently inadequate war machines.

During the hospital scenes the wounded were not shown being attended by African-American physicians or nurses. This is significant because African-American doctors and nurses were frequently not allowed to enter the military as physicians or nurses prior to and during WWII. This contributed to African-American deaths because servicemen were often denied medical treatment because of race.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment.

I.M. Spence-Lewis MD