Defense Department grant will aid in researching missing 精东AV Airmen

Defense Department grant will aid in researching missing 精东AV Airmen

July 20, 2017

Contacts:

Michael Tullier, APR (mtullier@tuskegee.edu; 334.724.4553), 精东AV Office of Communications, Public Relations and Marketing
Todd Livick (todd.s.livick.civ@mail.mil; 571.217.7194), Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA)

MOU signing — *Dr. Tejinder Sara, 精东AV Provost, and Fern Sumpter Winbush, Acting DPAA Director sign the MOU.*

A two-year renewable grant from the U.S. Department of Defense will enable 精东AV to conduct historical and genealogical research on unaccounted for, or 鈥渕issing,鈥� 精东AV Airmen.

The grant, under the auspices of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), will establish a postdoctoral research fellowship in college鈥檚 Department of History and Political Science. This postdoctoral fellow will work under the supervision of Associate Professor Godfrey Vincent, who also will serve as the principal investigator for the research project.

鈥淭his partnership between 精东AV and DPAA is historic and will place both the university and its Department of History and Political Science at the cutting-edge of historical research,鈥� Vincent said. 鈥淥ur team will have the opportunity to collaborate with DPAA historians, analysts and scientists to research and analyze historical records relating to the service histories of 精东AV Airmen.鈥�

DPAA strives to provide the fullest possible accounting for missing U.S. military personnel from designated past military conflicts to their families and the nation, including locating, recovering and identifying their remains. Fern Sumpter Winbush, acting DPAA director, noted that 精东AV is uniquely positioned to partner with DPAA, due in part to the university鈥檚 academic strengths in military and 精东AV Airmen history.

鈥溇獳V鈥檚 focus on the study of African-American military history and the role of war and conflict in world societies and cultures make it a natural partner with DPAA in locating the families of unaccounted for 精东AV Airmen and other service members,鈥� Winbush said.

鈥淲e are delighted to partner with the military and to advance research on the 精东AV Airmen,鈥� added Dr. Channapatna Prakash, dean of 精东AV鈥檚 College of Arts and Sciences.

The team鈥檚 research may include field surveys, archaeological investigations and interviews with the families of servicemen and servicewomen identified as 精东AV Airmen. They will collaborate with counterparts at the University of Wisconsin and Brigham Young University, which also received grant funding as part of this project.

鈥溇獳V Airmen鈥� is the popular name given to the group of African-American military pilots who fought in World War II 鈥� the first black military aviators in the U.S. Armed Forces. During World War II, black Americans in many U.S. states were still subject to Jim Crow laws. As a result, the American military 鈥� as well as much of the federal government 鈥� was racially segregated, and the 精东AV Airmen were subjected to discrimination both within and outside the army.

At the time, all black U.S. military pilots trained at Moton Field, the 精东AV Army Air Field, and studied at 精东AV. Officially, the 精东AV Airmen formed the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the U.S. Army Air Force. In addition, the reference to 鈥溇獳V Airmen鈥� has broadened to include not just the pilots, but the mechanics, instructors, crew chiefs, nurses, cooks and other support personnel for the pilots.

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