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CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, One of the most celebrated military units in our |
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nation's history, the Tuskegee Airmen played a crucial role in the |
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Allied victory in World War II and in the advancement of civil |
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rights in the United States; and |
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WHEREAS, Although Black pilots served with French forces |
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during World War I, African Americans were excluded from the U.S. |
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Army Air Corps, even as the nation began preparing for another |
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global conflict in the late 1930s and early 1940s; the NAACP, |
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churches, and newspapers urged an end to this discrimination, and |
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President Franklin D. Roosevelt promised to meet their request |
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during his 1940 campaign; following his victory, he overruled his |
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top generals to order the creation of a separate flight training |
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program for Black aviators in 1941; and |
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WHEREAS, The 99th Pursuit Squadron, later renamed the 99th |
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Fighter Squadron, was activated as the first Black flying unit in |
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March of that year; its base was established at Tuskegee Institute |
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in Alabama, one of the nation's foremost African American colleges, |
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which already housed a successful civilian pilot training program |
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and owned a small private airfield; many military leaders of the |
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time considered Black soldiers inferior and expected the initiative |
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to fail, but the staff at Tuskegee Army Air Field immediately began |
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their efforts to prepare accomplished aviators; Colonel Noel F. |
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Parrish, the airfield's commander, mandated the same rigorous |
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training that was provided at other bases, and the determined |
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individuals who made up ranks of the Tuskegee Airmen eagerly took up |
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the challenge of becoming military pilots; and |
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WHEREAS, Led by West Point alumnus and future four-star |
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general Benjamin O. Davis Jr., a member of Tuskegee's first |
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graduating class, the pilots of the 99th Fighter Squadron initially |
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proved themselves in battles over North Africa and Italy; the unit |
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later joined three other Black squadrons, the 100th, 301st, and |
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302nd, to form the 332nd Fighter Group; from bases in Italy, they |
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destroyed numerous enemy aircraft and targets on the ground and at |
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sea; on escort missions for the 15th Air Force, which had been |
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losing a dozen bombers a day, the Tuskegee Airmen achieved a |
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dramatic turnaround, losing just five bombers on 205 missions; |
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their success in protecting Allied aircraft earned them the |
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nickname the Red-Tail Angels, in reference to the crimson color |
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scheme of their planes; and |
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WHEREAS, Between 1942 and 1946, nearly 1,000 Army Air Corps |
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pilots, 20 bomber pilots, and 16,000 ground personnel graduated |
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from Tuskegee; the airmen flew over 15,000 missions and earned more |
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than 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses, among myriad other |
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decorations; their record of excellence contributed to President |
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Harry Truman's decision to end segregation in the military with an |
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executive order in 1948; moreover, many former Tuskegee Airmen |
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became leaders in the United States Air Force, their communities, |
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and the Civil Rights Movement in the decades that followed; and |
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WHEREAS, A number of notable Texans served bravely as |
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Tuskegee Airmen; Robert T. McDaniel graduated from I. M. Terrell |
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High School in Fort Worth and became a flight officer with the 477th |
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Bombardier Group; he went on to distinguish himself as a principal |
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in the Fort Worth Independent School District, and he was named to |
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its Wall of Fame; that same honor was bestowed upon fellow Terrell |
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High graduate and Tuskegee Airman Captain Claude Robert Platte Jr.; |
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a Denison native, Captain Platte was born in 1921 and served as a |
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flight instructor, training more than 400 Black fighter pilots, and |
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he ultimately pursued an 18-year career in the U.S. Air Force; |
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Master Sergeant Joseph Benjamin Montgomery, born in Quitman in |
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1926, also built on his experience as a Tuskegee Airman, enlisting |
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in the U.S. Air Force in 1958 and serving for a quarter century |
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until his retirement in 1980; and |
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WHEREAS, Through their courage, skill, and patriotic |
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service, the Tuskegee Airmen valiantly answered their nation's call |
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to duty in World War II, contributing immeasurably to the |
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integration of the military and American society as a whole, and |
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their achievements are indeed deserving of special recognition; |
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now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the 89th Legislature of the State of Texas |
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hereby designate the fourth Thursday of March as Tuskegee Airmen |
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Commemoration Day; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That, in accordance with the provisions of Section |
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391.004(d), Government Code, this designation remain in effect |
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until the 10th anniversary of the date this resolution is finally |
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passed by the legislature. |