Four members of the famous WWII Army Air Corps’ Tuskegee Airmen are on their way to Iraq. At 80 plus years each, they won’t be joining the fight, but will be talking to the troops helping to keep morale high.
“Especially the young troops, I want to let them know what we went through,” Watson said. “We made it, we stuck together and we’d like them to do the same thing.”
The airmen, now in their 80s, said some family members urged them against going to Iraq, where nearly 2,000 American servicemembers have died since the start of the war in March 2003.
But they said they felt the trip is important.
“They need to realize that we support them in what they’re trying to do, and this is one of the best ways that we can do this by going over there and showing them that,” said retired Lt. Col. Robert Ashby, 80, one of the original Tuskegee pilots.
This is a great morale booster for our service men and women downrange. As much as joe loves to see the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, David Letterman, or Jessica Simpson, they sincerely enjoy sitting down with the old timers and listening to their stories. Today’s soldiers hold yesterday’s heroes in high esteem and often find themselves humbled when hearing what they had to go through back in the day. The men and women who fought before us, under much more challenging conditions, paved the way for our privelege and honor to serve today. I’d venture that the soldiers who get to meet these great men will be left with a renewed sense of purpose and pride in what they’re doing in Iraq. I know that I wouldn’t want to let these gentlemen down. Sgt Hook out.
Posted by Hook @ 0236 zulu | | Permalink
This post is filed under: Army Times & Heroes
