This gallery exists to support the Tuskegee Airmen Memorial. Twenty percent of all sales will assist this fine effort. Following is more information.
Tuskegee Airmen Memorial of Greater Pittsburgh
Four prominent Pittsburghers are among a growing number of prominent personalities supporting the capital fund raising campaign to build a memorial monument in Sewickley, Pa to honor the record number of Tuskegee airmen from the Western Pennsylvania Region.
They are Franco Harris, the Steelers great and NFL Hall of Famer, Curtis Aiken, the University of Pittsburgh Basketball Star, announcer and prominent businessman, Carmella Mullen, board member of the proposed North Shore World War II Memorial Project, and Mrs. Cathryn Irvis, the widow of K. Leroy Irvis the first African American Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and PHI Beta Kappa Law Graduate from the University of Pittsburgh.
Due to new research that was aided by the Carnegie Museum’s Tennie Harris Collection referrals, “Our list of area airmen keeps growing. We had to completely redesign our monument’s configuration to allow for the additional names now and any others discovered in the future”, explained Board Chairman Regis Bobonis Sr. of Tuskegee Memorial of Greater Pittsburgh Region. This has caused an increase in the capital campaign’s goal to now be upwards of $250,000.
“In 2008 we documented and celebrated 69 area airmen as the largest contingency of enlistees to become Tuskegee airmen during World War II and how they demonstrated that black pilots could skillfully fly military aircraft in combat. “, Mr. Bobonis stated.
Since then he explained, the memorial’s team of researchers have certified an additional 19 airmen including two more from Beaver County : Rosa Alford, a retired High School Counselor from New Brighton who earned her degree in economics from of Tuskegee Institute as well as being a flight line mechanic, and Sergeant Paul Short of Rochester, who earned a Sliver Star and four bronze medals while serving as a P 51 Crew Chief in North Africa and Italy.
Another discovery was Master Sergeant, Richard Dowdy a graduate of Pittsburgh’s Peabody High School. He enlisted after his freshman year at Morehouse College and became a Crew Chief for the Tuskegee 477th Bomber Squadron. After the war, he returned home to earn two degrees in economics from Duquesne University. At the age of 42, Dowdy enrolled in the Yale Law School after which he joined the staff of David Rockefeller of the Rockefeller Family of New York.
Thus far we have certified 10 airmen out of some 20 potential candidates. The Museum’s staff has yet to identify the remaining airmen but all have Air Force patches on their uniforms and five are wearing pilot’s wings, If they are ever identified as Tuskegee airmen our head count would be a remarkable 100 or more .
Mr. Bobonis characterized the redesigned monument as “breathtaking. All of our granite is American made quarried in Vermont or Reading, PA. The white monument has an extra added attraction; at its center is a 7ft x 5ft reproduction in porcelain of an original color painting by Ray Simon that depicts the Tuskegee Airmen story almost at a glance. Mr. Simon, of Columbiana, Ohio is an internationally known and award winning illustrator of signature historical events, famous personalities, and professional athletes.
All things considered, the Tuskegee memorial leadership now estimates the new campaign revenue goal will be upwards of $250,000. It is expected that groundbreaking will take place in the Sewickley Cemetery in late summer with the dedication scheduled for early fall.
Please contact Traci or Ray at 800.920.7584 for more information.