Lesson's Learned from the Tuskegee Airmen

We as African Americans and all races can learn important lessons from the Tuskegee Airmen. Life for them was pretty hard from getting their pilots license to actually flying a plane. We can learn that in order to succeed in life u have to keep trying. You can take examples from the HBO movie which tells the story of Hannibal Lee who travels to Tuskegee, Alabama to join the Air Force and to serve his country. Along this trip he meets 4 loyal friends who throughout the movie die. Lee never stops and continues on to complete his journey in serving his country.

Another lesson learned from these brave men is to never lose sight of what you hope to achieve. In the movie we saw many challenges that Lt.Lee went through to become a pilot and to fight in the Air Firce. He lost many friends in his battle to achieve what he wanted. Although he struggled through great loses of great friends he still succeeded in what he planned to do. He knew that that's what they would have wanted him to do, which is something that we should all take out of this movie is that even though you loose something that you care deeply about never loose sight of what you want to achieve.

Also a lesson that is very important to me is to always listen to those with experience and you will succeed. An example of this would be that in the movie we watched there was a African American Lt.Gleen who was an experienced flier and who was also one of their trainers. He was one of the first AA flyers and he was a good role model to follow. Lt.Lee did everything that Lt.Gleen told him even though he was opposed to him telling one of hid good friends that he had to leave which lead to him killing himself. Lt.Lee still listened and paid attention and therefore he became a wonderful flyer and was successful in all of his mission.

As you can see we can learn a lot of valuble life lesson's from these brave men. They can teach us many things like to not lose sight of your goal, listen to those with experience, and to NEVER give up. Listen watch and learn form the Tuskegee Airmen.

What the Men Had to Offer

About a week ago Ms.Trenkle showed us the Tuskegee Airmen HBO movie and just days after that Lt. Broadwater and his friend came to our class, to present us with their knowledge and leave us with information for this blog entry. The men told us men many stories about themselves and events from the past. I learned many lessons from their presentation, such as, listen to what people with experience tell you, perseverance, and strive for the best.   Throughout their service the Tuskegee Airmen had perseverance; it wasn’t very easy for the men. With fighting enemies in the sky as bomber pilots or fighter pilots, coming back home wasn’t so easy. Being blacks pilots and not having respects from the white citizens, seems like they had no support.

The second lesson that I learned was listen to what people with experience tell you. Lt. Broadwater's friend told us about how his counselor told him to attend McKinley and ended up having a good education that led him to great goals. Also his mother told him to attend the school even though it had white people attending and was so called "bougie".

The third and final lesson that I learned from the presentation was strive for the best. The men had went through many obstacles for their goal. When Lt.Broadwater was young he saw his first plane, and from there on he wanted to be apart of the Tuskegee Airmen and fly planes. Lt.Broadwater's friend had to go to many schools that he hated but with that knowledge he was qualified to be an Air Traffic Control, without going through many tests.

And with these lessons, I learned a lot and grateful that the men came to give the class this information.

Lt. Broadwater and Mr. Richard Jones

Last week,  we watched the HBO film on the Tuskegee Airmen and Lt. Broadwater and his friend, Mr. Richard Jones, graced us with their presence. They told many stories and memories, such as when Mr. Jones went to Stuart, or the time Lt. Broadwater saw his first airplane at the age of 10. I really enjoyed both of their spiels, and benefited a lot from them. Three significant lessons I learned both from the movie and our guest speakers were perseverance, don't lose sight of your dreams, and listen to the people that have your best interest at heart. 

I think it's very obvious when it comes to the perseverance. I mean, the Tuskegee Airmen were all about perseverance. It wasn't a walk in the park for them. They struggled and strived until they got there place in the 322nd Infantry. It made all there success worthwhile when the military became desegregated in 1948, I think it's very amazing they never lost a bomber and that they did a 16 hour mission without stopping for gas or anything, just hovering. 

The second lesson was not losing sight of your dreams. The most vivid story I remember that made me think of not losing sight of your dreams was the story about Mr. Jones going to the better schools in the city. He absolutely hated McKinley, saying it was "bougie". Little did he know, McKinley was the best option for him. Because he took those classes at McKinley he was eligible to become an air traffic controller. 

Lastly, the third lesson I remember is when Mr. Jones and Lt. Broadwater had similar experiences with people guiding them in the right directions. Mr. Jones had people push him to the right direction starting with his family, and then at school with his counselors. That set him up for life. He followed the guidance of people he loves and it put him in one of the most elite groups in airplane revenue. Also Lt. Broadwater followed the guidance of many, helping him also become an air traffic controller and a proud Tuskegee Airmen