Plenty of politics are bound up in the National Defense Authorization Act before Congress this month, but there’s something in the bill that goes way above party.
The legislation, as passed by the House of Representatives, would promote Col. Charles E. McGee to the honorary rank of brigadier general. It’s a great 100th birthday present for a patriot who helped write a chapter in American military history.
An officer of the Tuskegee Airmen, Army Air Force units formed around African American and other minority personnel, McGee flew out of Italy during World War II. His mission was to lead other pilots in escorting American bomber groups as they flew to bomb Nazi Germany. Protecting the slow and unmaneuverable bombers, these fighter escorts had to insert themselves between bomber crews and Luftwaffe fighters sent up to intercept them. Their courage came at the cost of dozens killed in action.
McGee would later write of his World War II daring, “The P51-C Mustang fighter was a signature aircraft for the Tuskegee Airmen. We painted our Mustangs’ tails red so the Germans knew who they were dealing with! The bomber pilots we protected — all of whom were white — called us the ‘Red Tail Angels.'”
But if McGee’s recognition this week serves as an overdue salute to often-undervalued heroes, it also serves as a personal recognition of the man himself. After all, McGee’s life story goes above and beyond the call of duty.
Undeterred by the racial prejudice that he and other blacks suffered as they served in the armed forces, McGee stayed in the Army after V-E Day and V-J Day. He would fly 100 missions in the Korean War and 172 in the Vietnam War. This added up to a remarkable total of 409 combat missions by the time McGee retired in 1973.
His is a career of heroism that has few matches, and now, the man is getting a proper salute.
