Military service
He was a pilot with the 99th Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group for five years. [4]
James Clayton Flowers | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 25, 1915 Las Cruces, New Mexico, U.S. |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Service/ | United States Army Air Force |
| Years of service | 1940–1945 |
| Rank | First Lieutenant
|
| Unit | |
| Awards |
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| Spouse(s) | Evelyn Lorraine Flowers, 1919–2008 |
| Other work | Teacher in New York |
James Clayton Flowers (born December 25, 1915) is an American retired military pilot who served with the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II.
James Clayton Flowers was born on December 25, 1915 [1] in Las Cruces, New Mexico. [2]
He was a pilot with the 99th Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group for five years. [4]
After the war, he and his wife Evelyn started a family. Flowers worked as a school teacher in the New York School System. After retirement he and his wife relocated to New Mexico. [1] They had two children. [5] New Mexico held a ceremony to honor the Tuskegee Airmen in March 2014. Flowers was present for the dedication at the New Mexico Veterans' Memorial. [6] He turned 100 on December 25, 2015. [7]
The Tuskegee Airmen was a group of African American military pilots and airmen who fought in World War II. They formed the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). The name also applies to the navigators, bombardiers, mechanics, instructors, crew chiefs, nurses, cooks, and other support personnel. The Tuskegee airmen received praise for their excellent combat record earned while protecting American bombers from enemy fighters. The group was awarded three Distinguished Unit Citations.
Alexander Jefferson (POW) (WIA) was an American Air Force officer, famous as one of the Tuskegee Airmen, the 332nd Fighter Group. He served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II.
Milton Pitts Crenchaw was an American aviator who served with the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II and was the first Arkansan to be trained by the federal government as a civilian licensed pilot. He served during World War II as a civilian flight instructor. He was one of the two original supervising squadron members. In 1998 he was inducted into the Arkansas Aviation Hall of Fame. The grandson of a slave, he was known as the "father of black aviation in Arkansas" who broke through color barriers in the military.
Spann Watson was an American military aviator and civil servant who served with the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II. He flew over 30 missions in North Africa, Italy and Southern Europe. On March 2007, Watson attended a ceremony in the U.S. Capitol rotunda, where he and other surviving veterans of the Tuskegee Airmen were honored with the Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of their service. He died on April 15, 2010, aged 93.
Brigadier General Charles Edward McGee was an American fighter pilot who was one of the first African American aviators in the United States military and one of the last living members of the Tuskegee Airmen. McGee first began his career in World War II flying with the Tuskegee Airmen, an all African American military pilot group at a time of segregation in the armed forces. His military aviation career lasted 30 years in which McGee flew 409 combat missions in World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam War.
Clarence W. Dart, Sr. (WIA) was a World War II fighter pilot and member of the Tuskegee Airmen. During World War II. Dart was shot down twice earning two purple hearts. He was the recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross award.
Master Sergeant Buford A. Johnson was a member of the famed group of African-American World War II pilots and support personnel known as the Tuskegee Airmen. During World War II, he served as the chief mechanic servicing the fighter planes of the 99th Fighter Squadron of the 477th Composite Group.
James Bernard Knighten was one of the first twelve African-Americans to become a pilot in the United States Army Air Corps after graduating from flight school at the Tuskegee Army Air Field. He became a member of the famed 99th Fighter Squadron, part of the World War II-era group of highly decorated African-American aviators known as the Tuskegee Airmen. Knighten flew in the first combat mission by African American pilots on June 9, 1943. Knighten's military career continued through the Korean and Vietnam Wars. After retiring from the military in 1968, he had a 20-year career with the Federal Aviation Administration as an operations inspector in New York and later in Los Angeles. Known as a jokester through his military career, Knighten began performing as a stand-up comedian in Las Vegas under the name of Jay Bernard during his years at the FAA, finally moving to Las Vegas to perform full-time after retiring from his position with the FAA.
George Hardy is an American retired pilot and military officer. In World War II Hardy served with the Tuskegee Airmen and flew 21 combat missions. In the Korean War he flew 45 combat mission as the pilot of a bomber. In the Vietnam War Hardy flew 70 combat missions piloting an AC-119K gunship.
2nd Lt. Alfred M. Gorham (1920–2009) (POW) was a Tuskegee Airman from Waukesha, Wisconsin. He was the only Tuskegee Airman from Wisconsin, and he was a prisoner of war after his plane went down over Munich, Germany in World War II.
Captain William Bartley was an American military pilot who served with the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II. He graduated from the Tuskegee Institute in 1943, was given the rank of 2nd Lieutenant, and was placed with the 332nd Fighter Group and the 99th Fighter Squadron.
SSG Wilfred DeFour was a Panamanian-American soldier and centenarian. Born in Colón, Panama in 1918, DeFour emigrated with his family to the United States when Wilfred was still a child. The family settled in the Harlem section of New York City.
Sergeant First Class Thomas Franklin Vaughns is an American veteran who was a member of the famed group of World War II-era African-Americans known as the Tuskegee Airmen. He is a recipient of the National Defense Service Medal in 2019, for his service in the Korean War. He is also a member of the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame.
Theodore P. Johnson, Jr. was an American military serviceman who served during World War II and was a Documented Original Tuskegee Airman.
John "Ellis" Edwards was an American aviator who served with the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II. He served in the 332nd Fighter Group and earned the Distinguished Flying Cross award. He also served as a pilot in the Korean War.
James Henry Harvey III is a retired United States Army Air Corps/United States Air Force (USAF) officer and former African American fighter pilot who served with 332nd Fighter Group's 99th Fighter Squadron, best known as the Tuskegee Airmen, "Red Tails", or among enemy German pilots, Schwartze Vogelmenschen. He is one of the 1,007 documented Tuskegee Airmen pilots.
LTC Alva Newte Temple was an officer in the U.S. Army Air Forces and combat fighter pilot with the 332nd Fighter Group's 99th Fighter Squadron and 300th Squadron, best known as the all-African American Tuskegee Airmen, "Red Tails," or among enemy German pilots, “Schwartze Vogelmenschen”. He was one of the 1007 documented Tuskegee Airmen Pilots.
Mac Ross was a U.S. Army Air Force officer and combat fighter pilot during World War II. A member of the Tuskegee Airmen, he commanded the 100th Fighter Squadron and served as the Group Operations Officer for the 332nd Fighter Group.
Clarence Clifford “Jamie” Jamison was a U.S. Army Air Force officer and combat fighter pilot with the 332nd Fighter Group's 99th Fighter Squadron, best known as the all-African American Tuskegee Airmen, "Red Tails," or “Schwarze Vogelmenschen” among enemy German pilots.
Luke Joseph Weathers, Jr., was a U.S. Army Air Force officer, historic African American air traffic controller and prolific World War II combat fighter pilot with the prodigious 332nd Fighter Group's 302nd Fighter Squadron, best known as the Tuskegee Airmen, "Red Tails," or "Schwartze Vogelmenschen" among enemy German pilots. Weathers earned a Distinguished Flying Cross for defending and escorting a damaged U.S. Army Air Corps B-24 Liberator bomber against eight Messerschmitt Bf 109s on November 16, 1944, shooting down two Bf 109s.
