What's it like to meet a modern-day Tuskegee Airman? Third grade students at Henderson Ward Stewart had the experience in February as the school welcomed Captain Hunter Bryant to speak to students and read a book about the legendary African American pilots and airmen who fought during World War II. Captain Bryant is a member of the U.S. Air Force stationed at Columbus Air Force Base. He also attended Tuskegee University and trained on the same Army Air Fields built for training the original heroes. He and all those who train at the university are considered modern Tuskegee Airmen.
As part of HWS learning experiences surrounding Black History Month, the school invited Captain Bryant to visit with third-graders along with his fellow airman, 2nd Lt. Khalil Eaton. Bryant and Eaton spoke to groups and visited classrooms to share about their experiences in the military and their pilot training.
As part of the presentation, Captain Bryant read a portion of the book, "The Tuskegee Airmen Story" by Lynn Homan and Thomas Reilly, to students and also provided a copy of the book for each third grade classroom. The guests showed students some of the differences in the Tuskegee Airmen uniforms and those worn by today's pilots, and they talked about the importance of the service the Tuskegee Airmen provided our nation as cover for bomber planes during World War II. They also shared about the struggles the African American airmen faced during the 1940s and answered questions from students. Questions ranged from thoughts about the significance of the Tuskegee Airmen in U.S. history to the meaning of the patches on the CAFB pilots' uniforms and what classes the guests enjoyed most when they were in school. Both airmen talked with students about how working hard in class and participating in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) activities can put students on a path to become pilots themselves.
