Strana 5
Lt. Col. George E. Hardy, the last surviving
member of the Tuskegee Airmen who flew
combat missions during WWII in Europe, has
died. He was 100 years old.
Hardy died on Thursday, September 25,
a spokesperson for Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., told
NPR on Saturday. The organization remembered
his legacy as one of "courage, resilience,
tremendous skill and dogged perseverance
against racism, prejudice and other evils.”
Leon Butler Jr., national president of
Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., said
"Colonel Hardy was
an amazing man. He was a patriot. He loved his
family. He loved his community. He loved our
organization. He worked very hard. He worked
tirelessly to preserve the legacy, not for himself,
but for those that he served with, and he cared
about the families of other original Tuskegee
Airmen."
Born on June 8, 1925 in Philadelphia, he joined
the USAAF at age 18 in July 1943 and started
pilot training at the Tuskegee Army Air Field
in December, graduating from pilot training in
September 1944, age 19, and was commissioned
a 2nd Lieutenant. He served with the 99th
Fighter Squadron of the 332nd Fighter Group
at Ramitelli Air Base, Italy, where he completed
21 missions across Europe, and was the youngest
Red Tail fighter pilot.
He returned from Italy as a 1st Lieutenant
when the war in Europe ended and returned
to the Tuskegee Army Air Field base where he
was a supervising pilot until 1946 when it closed.
He then went back home to Philadelphia before
attending New York University and getting
married in 1947.
Hardy was assigned to the 19th Bomb Group,
where he was the only Black American officer,
and sent to Guam in 1949. The following year,
the Korean War began and he was transferred
to Okinawa. During the Korean War, he flew
45 combat missions, including Black Thursday in
October 1951, and flew 70 combat missions in the
Vietnam War.
The world is a different place without these
guys.
Thomas McKelvey Cleaver
Lt. Col.
George E. Hardy
1925–2025
Lt. Col. George E. Hardy, the last
surviving member of the Tuskegee
Airmen who flew combat missions
during WWII in Europe, has died.
He was 100 years old.
INFO Eduard
5
October 2025