From the Jne 25, 2019, Chicago Sun-Times "WW II pilot, original Tuskegee airman, AP.
World War II pilot Robert Friend, one of the last original members of the famed all-black Tuskegee Airmen, has died at age 99.
He died at a southern California hospital.
Born in South Carolina on 1920's leap day, Mr. Friend flew 142 combat missions in the war as part of an elite group of fighter pilots trained at at Alabama's Tuskegee Institute. The program was created after the NAACP began challenging policies barring black people from flying military aircraft.
Mr. Friend's 28-year Air Force career included service in Korea and Vietnam.
He also worked on space launch vehicles and served as foreign technology program director before retiring as a lieutenant colonel and forming his own aerospace company.
Quite a Life. GreGen
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