Sept. 6, 2008 — Flying combat missions in the skies over Europe during World War II to defeat Nazi Germany was one thing. Flying in the face of centuries of racism was another.
That was the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen, the 995 black Americans who trained to be pilots at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama during and after World War II despite the widely held belief at the time that blacks were not patriotic, wouldn’t fight and were not physically or mentally capable of becoming pilots.
The airmen’s outstanding combat record during the war put the lie to those assumptions and helped launch the drive to achieve racial equality in America.
Two Virgin Islanders — the late Herbert H. Heywood and the late Henry E. Rohlsen — were members of that proud group and share that legacy. Their memories were honored Saturday at a ceremony at Government House in Christiansted. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and one of the most powerful members of Congress, presented their families with gold medals commemorating their ground-breaking service.
It was Rangel who spearheaded the effort in Congress to finally commemorate the Tuskegee Airmen and assure their place in history. Saturday he called the Tuskegee Airmen "ordinary people who did such extraordinary things."
The Virgin Islands had only been part of the United States for 25 years when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, yet islanders didn’t hesitate to volunteer to serve their country. Heywood and Rohlsen enlisted in 1943 and trained at Tuskegee to fly P-39s and P-40s. Rohlsen also got to fly the P-51 Mustang fighter.
But the reception blacks received in the segregated U.S. Armed Forces, and especially at training bases in the racist South, was anything but warm and patriotic.
"They weren’t required to," said Delegate Donna Christensen, who hosted the event. "They weren’t even wanted. They insisted."
They were trained, Rangel pointed out, by white and Puerto Rican officers who didn’t believe they could do what they were being trained to do.
They had to deal with racism both within the service and in the communities where they were trained. Black officers were not allowed in base officers clubs. When the first class of pilots passed their test, they were required to take it again, because of the assumption that they couldn’t pass it.
"They didn’t have to prove themselves 100 percent," said Joyce Rohlsen, widow of Henry E. Rohlsen. "They had to prove themselves 1,000 percent."
And they did. The 33rd Fighter Group and the 99th Pursuit Squadron flew with distinction over North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France and Germany.
"They returned home super heroes," Rangel said. "And when they came back they were treated worse than the German prisoners of war."
They returned home to a United States where Jim Crow laws were still common and racial prejudice a matter of course. Once again, they were relegated to second-class citizenship. But their example had helped open the doors.
In 1949, President Harry Truman ordered the desegregation of the military, and in the years to come the drive for equality picked up steam, finally forcing open the doors of opportunity to all citizens regardless of color.
Now the country is considering whether to vote for a black man as president of the United States, something that was inconceivable when Henry Rohlsen and Herbert Heywood were struggling for the chance to serve their country during World War II.
"If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be here," said General Renaldo Rivera, adjutant general of the V.I. National Guard. "Everyone who went before me made it possible for me to be here today."
Both were honorably discharged after the war and, after college, returned to the Virgin Islands where they continued their tradition of leadership. Both were elected to the Legislature. Heywood taught at his alma mater, Christiansted High School. Rohlsen was administrator of St. Croix from 1969 to 1976.
Rohlsen died in 1981, and Heywood the following year.
While the ceremony honored events of the past, speaker after speaker emphasized its importance to the future.
"It gives our young people an opportunity to see you can actually achieve something," Joyce Rohlsen said.
The lesson wasn’t lost on Ajeeb Prince, 16, a cousin of Herbert Heywood, the youngest family member to attend Saturday’s medal presentation. Prince had grown up with stories of the Tuskegee Airmen and his relative’s role, but the ceremony brought home its significance.
"It’s kind of cool," Prince said. "It makes me realize that anybody can be part of history. It’s the choices you make and the things you do."
Also speaking at the ceremony Saturday were Curtis Williams, commander of American Legion Post 133 in Frederiksted; Sen. Usie Richards, president of the V.I. Legislature; Gov. John deJongh Jr.; and Lt. Gov. Gregory R. Francis.
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