January 12, 1960 Jacques Dominique Wilkins, hall of fame basketball player, was born in Paris, France where his father was stationed in the United States Air Force. Wilkins led his high school basketball team to consecutive Class 3-A State Championships and entered the University of Georgia in 1979. He was named the SEC Men’s Basketball […]
Tag Archives | Air Force
January 10th in African American History – James Forman
January 10, 2005 James Forman, civil rights leader, died. Foreman was born October 4, 1928 in Chicago, Illinois. He served in the United States Air Force in Okinawa during the Korean War and was discharged in 1952. Forman earned his undergraduate degree from Roosevelt University in 1957 and spent most of the late 1950s working […]
January 7th in African American History – Lowell W. Perry
January 7, 2001 Lowell W. Perry, the first African American assistant coach in the National Football League, died. Perry was born December 5, 1931 in Ypsilanti, Michigan. He played college football at the University of Michigan where he was an All-American receiver. After earning his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1953, Perry was selected by […]
November 13th in African American History – Benny Andrews
November 13, 1930 Benny Andrews, painter, printmaker, and educator, was born in Plainview, Georgia. After serving in the United States Air Force as a staff sergeant from 1950 to 1954, Andrews earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He had his first New York City solo […]
October 12th in African American History – Eugene Jacques Bullard
October 12, 1961 Eugene Jacques Bullard, the only Black pilot in World War I, died. Bullard was born October 9, 1894 in Columbus, Georgia. While on a trip to Paris in 1914, World War I started and Bullard decided to join the French Foreign Legion. In 1916 he was wounded and awarded the Croix de […]
October 2nd in African American History – Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr.
October 2, 1935 Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr., United States Air Force officer and the first African American selected for astronaut training, was born in Chicago, Illinois. At the age of 20, Lawrence earned his Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Bradley University. After flight training, he was designated a U. S. Air Force pilot […]
August 10th in African American History – Henry Cabot Lodge Bohler
August 10, 2007 Henry Cabot Lodge Bohler, former Tuskegee Airman, died. Bohler was born in Augusta, Georgia in 1925. He enlisted in the Army Air Force at the age of 17 and trained at the Tuskegee Army Air Field, earning his wings in 1944. Bohler remained with the air force until 1947, rising to the […]