Before World War II, black Americans were totally excluded from careers in military aviation, but during the war approximately 1,000 hand picked African Americans completed pilot training at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Tuskegee, Alabama, as part of a "Separate Air Corps." Of these, 450 were assigned as fighter pilots to the 99th Fighter Squadron and the 332nd Fighter Group with the 12th and 15th Air Forces, serving first in North Africa and later in Ramitelli, Italy, where they helped defeat the German Luftwaffe. Flying F-39's, F-40's, F-47's, and P-51's Mustangs' (Redtail), they never lost a bomber to enemy fighter interdiction. In 1,500 missions, they destroyed or damaged over 400 enemy aircraft and sank an enemy destroyer with machine gun fire. Sixty-six Tuskegee airmen died in combat, and over 150 airmen were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
