TUSKEGEE, Ala. — Dr. Roscoe C. Brown, Jr., one of the original members of the Tuskegee Airmen, died on Saturday at age 94 in New York. According a New York NBC affiliate, Brown had fallen ill late last year and had a pacemaker installed. Cause of death is not known at this time.
During World War II, Brown commanded the 100th Fighter Squadron of the 332nd Fighter Group during World War II, and flew 68 long-range missions from August of 1944 to March of 1945.
The 332nd, known as the Tuskegee Airmen, was the first group of African-American military aviators in the United States Armed Forces. They earned the nickname from their training at the Tuskegee Army Air Field and their education from Tuskegee University. During the course of the war, they escorted American and allied bombers, protecting them from enemy fire with a highly distinguished record. According to WSFA, Dr. Brown is “credited with being the first 15th Air Force pilot to shoot down a German jet fighter” while on “the longest escort mission to take place in the war.”
When the pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group painted the tails of their P-47s and later, P-51s, red, the nickname “Red Tails” was coined, and also became the title of the feature film about their missions.
The airmen went on to receive numerous military decorations including the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with eight Oak Leaf Clusters. “The reason the Tuskegee Airmen are really being recognized now is that we challenged the stereotype,” Brown said during an interview. “We defeated a stereotype that African-Americans didn’t have the intelligence, the ability to do this. And we did it, we did it as well, may times better than other folks.”
After his military career, Brown took to the classroom to teach higher education. He served as the Director of the Center for Urban Education Policy and University Professor at the Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York (CUNY).
The former pilot is survived by his four children and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
