The February meeting of the Thomasville Chapter National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) featured an informative program by Don Sims on the Tuskegee Airmen in recognition of Black History Month. Thomasville Chapter DAR Regent Charlotte Brown introduced the speaker. 

Sims has a BBA from the University of Georgia and a Master of Education from Georgia Southwestern University. He is a former Thomasville City Council member. Sims is the past president of the Thomasville-Thomas County Chamber of Commerce, a position he held for over 24 years. He served as a combat platoon leader in Vietnam and was awarded the Combat Infantry Badge, airborne wings, the Bronze Star for Valor, the Bronze Star for Meritorious Service and the Purple Heart. Simis is a longtime Rotarian, a Paul Harris and Will Watt Fellow and has served on the boards of several organizations.

Sims said he developed a hobby of clipping the obituaries from the New York Times on people involved in World War I and II. Through an interesting obituary, Sims learned about Charles A. Anderson, an African American born in 1907 from Bridgeport, Pennsylvania. In 1929, Anderson paid $2,500 for an airplane in which he couldn’t fly. He became certified as a pilot and in 1934, Anderson was the first Black to have an air transport license. He flew the first land plane to the Bahamas. 

In 1939, he was the head of the division of Aeronautics at Tuskegee Institute and started the Civilian Pilot Training Program there. He was the chief instructor and was known as “Chief” because of his extensive experience as a pilot. 

In 1940, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt visited Tuskegee Institute and was invited to fly in a plane with Charles “Chief” Anderson. This historic flight helped to persuade President Franklin Roosevelt to start the training of Black pilots. On July 19, 1941, the training program for Black military pilots began at Tuskegee and was led by Anderson. 

On June 9, 1943, Charles Dryden led the 99th Fighter Group, and six other pilots into combat over Sicily. From 1941 to 1946, 992 men graduated as pilots in the Tuskegee program, of which 450 were deployed. There were 150 pilots who died either in training or in combat. There were about 14,000 Tuskegee Airmen. Some airmen were mechanics, navigators or held administrative jobs. Three of the pilots shot down at least four planes. The Tuskegee Airmen had 15,500 combat sorties, including more than 6,000 missions for the 99th Squadron before July 1944. The group was highly decorated and collectively received 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses, 744 Air Medals, one Silver Star, eight Purple Hearts and 14 Bronze Stars. During the war, the Tuskegee Airmen earned the nickname “Red Tails,” after painting the tails of their planes red.

The first Black U.S. Air Force general, Benjamin O. Davis Jr. was commander of the Tuskegee Airmen. He graduated from West Point in 1936 and wanted to be a pilot but was told that that was impossible. Davis later went through the pilot training program and rose to the rank of lieutenant general. 

In 2006, under the administration of President George W. Bush, the Congressional Gold Medal was issued to the Tuskegee Airmen. Shown on the front of the gold medal are three profiles of a pilot wearing a leather flying helmet, ground mechanic wearing a billed cap; and pilot wearing a service cap. Displayed on the back are the P-40, P-51D and B-25 aircrafts. Henry B. “Herky” Perry, a decorated combat fighter pilot with the Tuskegee Airmen, was born in Thomasville in 1920 and died in 1995 in Missouri. The oldest Tuskegee Airman, Gen. Charles McGee, died on January 16, 2022 at the age of 102. He completed 409 air combat missions in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. There are about nine Tuskegee Airmen still living today.

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in 1890 to promote historic preservation, education, and patriotism. Its members are descended from the patriots who won American independence during the Revolutionary War. With more than 190,000 members in approximately 3,000 chapters worldwide, DAR is one of the world’s largest and most active service organizations. More than one million women have joined the DAR since it was founded. To learn more about the work of today’s DAR, visit www.DAR.org.

For more information about the Thomasville Chapter DAR, visit thomasville.georgiastatedar.org or the Chapter’s Facebook page at facebook.com/ThomasvilleChapterNSDAR.