Published since 2008, !TFAM is a bi-weekly lifeline uniting readers to
ensure the legacy of Tuskegee Airmen. !TFAM provides an inside view into
the lives of Tuskegee Airmen and the people they influence.
Today we focus on three good stories about Tuskegee
Airmen and their call to mobilize and organize. We see
them, we see the impact they had on the individual and
the positive impact on the lives of other people.
News article from National Public Radio – Dozens of
Black pilots disappeared during WWII.
Who are the men still lost? : The Sunday Story : NPR
Love it or leave it? I think you’re going to love this interview, and if
you don’t love it, then I think you will, at least, find it engaging and
drawing you in. You might even talk back to Cheryl W. Thompson
during her interview, like I did. Depending on how much you know
about Tuskegee Airmen who were lost overseas during WW will
determine how much you talk back during the interview.
By the way, I enjoyed it very much! Thanks to Margaret Brown for
sharing it.
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Black History 365 Honors Captain Larry “Jet” Jackson
By: Donovan Martin Sr, Editor in Chief
Excellence in the air, impact on the ground, and a legacy that
endures
Black History Month is a time to look forward as much as it is a time
to reflect. It is about momentum, belief, and the people who quietly
expand what feels possible for everyone coming after them. Captain
“Jet” Jackson’s life is one of those stories. Not loud. Not theatrical.
Just steady excellence, lived with intention.
The nickname “Jet” came long before aviation. It started on the
track, running the 100 and 400 metres and the 4×100 relay, often
running the third leg. Speed mattered, but discipline mattered more.
That balance carried naturally into flight training. At just 22 years
old, fresh out of college in 1973, he entered military aviation
alongside five other Black pilots. All six completed the program. In
an era when the washout rate for Black candidates was staggering,
that outcome mattered. It wasn’t luck. It was preparation, focus,
and refusing to lower standards.
The first overseas assignment after graduation took him to Okinawa,
Japan, in December 1975, just after the Vietnam War had ended.
Flying the F-4 Phantom meant carrying real responsibility. This was
an aircraft designed to deliver massive conventional weapons and
tactical nuclear bombs. Studying how to arm them and
understanding their destructive capacity was part of the job. Around
that time, a Stevie Wonder lyric stuck with him, a line about men
playing with bombs the way children play with toys. It wasn’t poetic.
It was grounding. It reinforced the seriousness of the work.
After Okinawa came three years in the Philippines. Across those
squadrons, he was the only Black pilot. He walked in like everyone
else, did the work, and stayed focused. Some people were
welcoming. Others were distant. None of that changed the
approach. Assignment, performance, promotion, repeat. That
consistency led to leadership roles as a flight leader and weapons
and tactics instructor pilot in the F-5 and F-15 aircraft, and
eventually to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
Loss was also part of the journey. In March 1987, a close friend,
Gene Jackson, died in an aircraft crash caused by maintenance
failures. He had been scheduled for that flight. That moment never
left him. It reinforced a belief that preparation, discipline, and
attention to detail are not abstract values. They save lives.
The transition to commercial aviation reset the learning curve.
Training at Southwest Airlines was intense and unforgiving. Five
weeks. No shortcuts. With a young daughter at home, failure was
not an option. Commercial flying was never taken lightly. Carrying
more than a hundred passengers meant carrying responsibility for
families, children, seniors, and people needing assistance. It
demanded professionalism every single day.
There were moments that defined that responsibility. A passenger
suffering a heart attack at altitude over New Mexico, saved because
of a rapid emergency landing in Amarillo. A flight attendant whose
life was spared after a medical emergency shortly after departure
from Los Angeles. A bird strike near Portland that took out an engine,
handled calmly and by the book. These moments reinforced a
simple truth: respect the aircraft, respect the weather, respect the
role.
Beyond flying, the mission widened. In 1999, involvement with the
ACES program began, aimed at introducing youths to aviation. That
work expanded through the Organization of Black Airline Pilots,
including helping establish a chapter in Phoenix. Speaking in
schools across the city revealed a striking divide. In one
predominantly minority school, hundreds of students were asked if
they believed they could become pilots. Not one hand went up. In a
more affluent school, more than half the class raised theirs. The
difference wasn’t talent. It was exposure.
Growing up in Chicago, one of the earliest influences was an
instructor named Coffey, among the first Black flight teachers in the
country and a mentor to many of the Tuskegee Airmen. That lineage
mattered. It connected generations and reinforced that excellence
had always been present, even when opportunity lagged behind.
A defining chapter of this work unfolded through the Chapman
Family Foundation. Meeting Don Chapman and his mother left a
lasting impression. His mother was the kind of person who didn’t
wait for permission or perfect conditions. She saw what needed to
be done and did it. Don carried that same spirit, and the support of
his wife and children became a pivotal part of what made the
foundation’s contributions so meaningful and so lasting.
The results are visible. Captain Aaron Grisson, a 2007 graduate of
the Phoenix ACE Academy, now flies for United Airlines. Alex
Traverse took the military route through ROTC, flew the F-16, and is
now an F-35 instructor pilot. Several Métis and First Nations
students from Canada also came through the program. One
became a certified flight instructor in Vancouver and has now set
their sights on a new goal altogether, planning to enter the medical
field and pursue a future as a doctor. These aren’t coincidences.
They are outcomes.
Captain Jackson’s message to young people has always been
simple and steady: “chase what lights you up, don’t let anyone else
put a ceiling on your future, and stay ready—because when the door
finally opens, that’s when it counts most.”
One moment captures the heart of it all. In 2003, on a flight from
Indianapolis to Denver, a flight attendant brought a four-year-old boy
into the cockpit. His name was Bryan Jackson, no relation. Traveling
with his grandmother, he said he wanted to become a pilot so he
could earn enough money to get his mother and little sister out of a
homeless shelter. That moment stayed with everyone in that
cockpit. It was a reminder of why access, visibility, and belief matter.
As we kick off Black History Month, we salute Captain “Jet” Jackson.
Not just for the aircraft flown or the ranks earned, but for the lives
lifted, the doors opened, and the steady example of what excellence
looks like when it’s paired with purpose.
Editor’s note: Larry “Jet” Jackson, great picture! Glad I didn’t know
you back in the day when you posed for that picture.
Padon my honesty, but Wow and Wow!!
Preserve a Tuskegee Airmen legacy
Back down memory lane…
Tuskegee Airman Asa Herring Edna Watson, wife of TA Spann
Watson on her 100th HBD
Tuskegee Airman Oliver Goodall and General
Benjamin O. Davis
Two young convention goers at the 2016 TA
National Convention. Reaghan Terrelongue, great granddaughter of TA Victor
Terrelongue, is holding the tablet.
Peggy Shivers, opera singer, The
Shivers Fund at PPLD , https://shiversfund.com/, and surviving spouse of
Tuskegee Airman and nationally recognized artist Clarence Shivers
Yes, that’s Tuskegee
Airman, BG Enoch Woodhouse and a young airman.
Taken at the University
of California at Riverside, an event for The Tuskegee Airmen Archives at UCR.
Left to right: Tuskegee Airmen Ted Lumpkin and Harlan Leonard; I apologize
for not knowing the name of the gentleman in the beret; Col. Ralph Smith co-
founder of TA Archives at UC Riverside; Dr. Ruth Jackson, co-founder TA
Archives UC Riverside and UC Riverside head librarian emeritus; Tuskegee
Airman Buford Johnson; UC Riverside current head librarian
On the left, the only two people in this pic that I know, the fabulous Dorothy
Thornhill and TA Levi Thornhill.
That’s Col. Alexander Jefferson in
the foreground and Tuskegee Airman Robert Ashby in the background.
Tuskegee Airmen, Mac Ross and
Abbie Voorhies Ross, husband and wife.
Tuskegee Airmen and Tomie
Melton, wife of William Melton. Seated Tomie Melton (mom), Robert Ashby,
Elwood Driver; standing William Melton, Lincoln Ragsdale and Alexander
Jefferson.
T’skegee girls, Edna Watson, Millicent
Battle, Yvonne Plummer, other gorgeous young women.
Tuskegee Airmen Ted Lumpkin
and LeRoy Gillead
Editor’s shout out to the memory of Lowell Bowles
Lowell Bowles was president of the Los Angeles Chapter of TAI in
1999 – 2005 approximately. He was an idea man always looking for
the next opportunity to ensure the legacy of Tuskegee Airmen.
Lowell pitched the idea to the Rose Parade committee to include
Tuskegee Airmen in the Rose Parade. He succeeded and in 2010 the
Airmen were on their float named “A Cut Above”.
Well folks, that’s all for now.
I love you madly!
L. Sunnye Simpson
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