I visited Columbus, Georgia one weekend and while running an errand and waiting, I opened FaceBook to pass the time. There was a post regarding a neighborhood yard sale by Mr. Johnnie Warner who is the director of the Harambee Black History Museum in Columbus.
I decided to drop by to support before heading back to Atlanta. Mr. Warner had in his possession a 1941 yearbook of the 24th Infantry Regiment. My grandfather, Henry Scott, was part of the 24th in 1941.
I scanned the photos looking for him, but I was pressed for time and may have missed his picture. I also did not have his Company information readily available, so looking into a sea of faces didn’t help.
Mr. Warner offered to look him up once I provided the Company name. Once I got home, I did so and he found my grandfather and shared the photo with me!
While looking through Henry’s military record for the Company he was assigned to in 1941, I noted that he was transferred to the 99th Pursuit Squadron and stationed at Chanute Field in Rantoul, Illinois on March 31, 1941. My grandfather was no pilot. He was an infantryman.
He had a sixth-grade education and usually had jobs that were manual in nature.
Seeing this transfer intrigued me. What was the 99th Pursuit Squadron and why was my grandfather transferred to it?
I decided to do some research on Chanute Field and the 99th and was pleasantly surprised at what I found.
The 99th Pursuit Squadron
On June 27, 1939, Congress passed the Civilian Pilot Training Act. Tuskegee Institute’s application to be a training school was approved almost three months later on September 25, 1939.
Almost a year later, the War Department announced the development of “colored personnel” for the aviation service.
January 16, 1941, another announcement by the War Department was made which stated that a “Negro pursuit squadron” would be created and these pilots would be trained at Tuskegee, Alabama.
The first all-Black fighter squadron, the 99th Pursuit Squadron, was created March 19, 1941 and activated March 22, 1941 at Chanute Air Field, Illinois.
My grandfather was transferred from the 24th Infantry Division to the 99th Pursuit Squadron on March 31, 1941. He was part of over 250 enlisted men being trained in either aircraft ground support or other duties such as laundry or cooking.
I am unsure what my grandfather’s role was at Chanute Field, but to see he was part of such an historical event made me beam with pride.
The 99th was a forerunner to the famed Tuskegee Airmen.