World War II Tuskegee Airman to introduce Red Tail Reborn at Air Force Museum Theatre
Dayton, OH (PRWEB) February 04, 2015 -- The Air Force Museum Theatre is proud to announce Lt. Col. George Hardy, (USAF Ret) will introduce a showing of "Red Tail Reborn" at noon on Tuesday, Feb. 10.
Hardy graduated from flight training on Sept. 9, 1944, at Tuskegee Army Air Field, then began his military career as a member of the all-black 99th Fighter Squadron, flying 21 combat missions over Germany in a P-51 Mustang fighter plane. By the time he completed his 28-year military career, Hardy had flown a fighter in the Second World War, 45 combat missions as co-pilot of a B-29 bomber during the Korean War and more than 70 more missions as the pilot of a AC-119 gunship in Vietnam.
Hardy will only be present Feb. 10, but the theatre is celebrating Black History Month and the opening of the expanded Tuskegee Airmen exhibit at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force by showing "Red Tail Reborn" at noon each day from Feb. 9-15. Tickets are specially priced at $5.00 for this film. The three-time Emmy Award-winning film, produced by Adam White, tells the story of the Tuskegee Airmen and those keeping their legacy alive.
Red Tail Reborn, narrated by Michael Dorn, is a tale of inspiration. Historic interviews, unprecedented access and emotional honesty bring to light the tale of the Tuskegee Airmen, and of those who honor them. The Tuskegee Airmen showed the world what hope, determination and hard work could do.
Amidst the racial naysayers during World War II (WWII), the first African-American fighter pilots were commissioned in 1941 to help defend the distressed bombers in the European theater. Under the watch of these pilots, few bombers were lost to enemy fighters. These forgotten pilots are known as the Tuskegee Airmen.
The ambition to make these heroes a household name is the primary objective of the Red Tail Project, a group of men and women who honored the Tuskegee Airmen by touring airshows with a restored P-51C Mustang, the famous roaring fighter plane these men flew in combat. The Red Tail Project is a part of the Commemorative Air Force (CAF), a nationwide organization dedicated to preserving WWII aircraft. Like the men they tribute, the Red Tail Project encountered adversity when their flying homage to the Airmen, the Mustang, crashed in 2004, killing pilot Don Hinz, who was also the project leader. Find out how these lessons are applied to a project recovering from a lost aircraft and lost friend.
Following the film on Feb 10, author Daniel Haulman will be autographing his book, The Tuskegee Airmen, in the Museum Gift Store from 1-3. Most books and exhibits about the Tuskegee Airmen have focused on their training and their subsequent accomplishments during combat. This publication goes further, using captioned photographs to trace the Airmen through the various stages of training, deployment, and combat in North Africa, Italy, and over occupied Europe.
About Us: The Theatre and Gift Store are operated by the Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc., a Section 501(c)(3) private, non-profit organization that assists the Air Force in the development and expansion of the facilities of the National Museum of the United States Air Force. For more information on the Air Force Museum Foundation, visit http://www.airforcemuseum.com. The Air Force Museum Foundation is not part of the Department of Defense or any of its components and it has no governmental status.
The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, is the world’s largest military aviation museum. With free admission and parking, the museum features more than 360 aerospace vehicles and missiles and thousands of artifacts amid more than 17 acres of indoor exhibit space. Each year about one million visitors from around the world come to the museum. For more information, visit http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil.
Mary Bruggeman, Air Force Museum Foundation, http://www.afmuseum.com, +1 937-656-9623, [email protected]
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