Bill Text: PA HR363 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Designating Tuesday, June 23, 2009, as "Tuskegee Airmen Day" in Pennsylvania.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2009-06-23 - Adopted [HR363 Detail]

Download: Pennsylvania-2009-HR363-Introduced.html

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PRINTER'S NO. 2223
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No. 363 Session of2009
INTRODUCED BY WATERS, BROWN, PARKER, BISHOP, YOUNGBLOOD, BAKER, BARRAR, BRENNAN, BUXTON, CALTAGIRONE, CLYMER, COHEN, CONKLIN, DALEY, DAY, DeLUCA, DeWEESE, DONATUCCI, DRUCKER, FREEMAN, GEIST, GEORGE, KULA, MAHER, MANN, MARKOSEK, MARSICO, McGEEHAN, McILVAINE SMITH, MILLER, MOUL, MUNDY, MURPHY, MYERS, M. O'BRIEN, PASHINSKI, RAPP, REICHLEY, ROCK, ROEBUCK, ROSS, SAINATO, SCAVELLO, SHAPIRO, SONNEY, SWANGER, TALLMAN, WATSON, WHEATLEY, FAIRCHILD AND FLECK, JUNE 22, 2009
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35, JUNE 22, 2009
A RESOLUTION
Designating Tuesday, June 23, 2009, as "Tuskegee Airmen Day" in
Pennsylvania.
WHEREAS, The Tuskegee Airmen is the popular name of a group
of African-American pilots who flew with distinction during
World War II as the 332nd Fighter Group of the United States
Army Air Corps; and
WHEREAS, Prior to the Tuskegee Airmen, no United States
military pilots had been African American; and
WHEREAS, A series of legislative moves by the Congress of the
United States in 1941 forced the Army Air Corps to form an all-
black combat unit, despite the War Department's reluctance; and
WHEREAS, In June 1941, the Tuskegee program officially began
with the formation of the 99th Fighter Squadron at the Tuskegee
Institute; and
WHEREAS, The House Armed Services Committee convened a
hearing to determine whether the Tuskegee Airmen experiment
should be allowed to continue, based on the fact that they had
see little air-to-air combat; and
WHEREAS, To bolster the recommendation to scrap the project,
a member of the committee commissioned and then submitted into
evidence a scientific report by the University of Texas which
purported to prove that African Americans where of low
intelligence and incapable of handling complex situations, such
as air combat; and
WHEREAS, By the end of the war, however, the Tuskegee Airmen
were credited with 109 Luftwaffe aircraft shot down, the German-
operated Italian destroyer TA-23 sunk by machine-gun fire, and
the destruction of numerous fuel dumps, trucks and trains; and
WHEREAS, The squadrons of the 332nd FG flew more than 15,000
sorties on 1,500 missions; and
WHEREAS, The Tuskegee Airmen continued to have to fight
racism; and
WHEREAS, Their combat record did much to quiet those directly
involved with the group, but other units continued to harass the
airmen; and
WHEREAS, After segregation in the military was ended in 1948
by President Harry S. Truman with Executive Order 9981, the
veteran Tuskegee Airmen now found themselves in high demand
throughout the newly formed United States Air Force and some
taught in civilian flight schools, such as the black-owned
Columbia Air Center in Maryland; and
WHEREAS, The Tuskegee Airmen Memorial was erected at
Walterboro Army Airfield, South Carolina, in honor of the
Tuskegee Airmen, their instructors and ground support personnel
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who trained at the Walterboro Army Airfield during World War II;
and
WHEREAS, The Tuskegee Airmen were dedicated, determined young
men who enlisted to become America's first black military
airmen; and
WHEREAS, They came from every section of the country, with
large numbers coming from New York, Washington, Los Angeles,
Chicago, Philadelphia and Detroit; and
WHEREAS, According to Tuskegee University, 15,000 men and
women shared the "Tuskegee Experience" from 1942 to 1946;
therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives designate
Tuesday, June 23, 2009, as "Tuskegee Airmen Day" in
Pennsylvania.
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