During the middle years of World War II, Michigan was home to several of the first African American air combat units known as the Tuskegee Airmen. On March 26, 1943, the 332nd Fighter Group, comprised of the 100th, 301st, and 302nd fighter squadrons, departed Tuskegee Army Airfield in Alabama for final World War II combat crew training at Selfridge and Oscoda Army Airfields in Michigan. The Tuskegee Aviation Experience was the Army Air Corps program to train the nation's first African American military aviators to fly, fight, maintain combat aircraft, and help win World War II, and it included pilots, navigators, bombardiers, mechanics, nurses, crew chiefs, cooks, and other support personnel. Trained at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama because of its pioneering commitment to aeronautical education and support of African Americans in aviation, these 18-26 year olds overcame segregation and prejudice to become one of the most highly respected fighter groups of World War II. They flew 15,553 sorties, destroyed critical Axis equipment and logistical supplies, flew the longest combat escort mission of the war, and earned the title Red-Tailed Angels for their protection of American bomber crews in red-tailed P-51 aircraft. Their skill and bravery in aerial combat and raids over Europe hastened Allied victory in the European Theatre and paved the way for the integration of the U.S. military. In Michigan, the remains of 2nd Lieutenant Frank Moody's P-39 Airacobra lie just offshore in Lake Huron near this point, and the wreck site of Flight Officer Nathaniel P. Rayburg's P-39 Airacobra was discovered in the St. Clair River.