This is a story of men, who in spite of discrimination at home, become heroes in defense of America’s freedom either in combat or in support of those who were.
In most cases their story is lost or forgotten,, but they are all men whose memory should be honored. With all the remembrance of World War I and World War II over the past few years theirs is a piece of Columbus history that needs to be told.
I have written before about Lt Col. Alva Temple. He was a black businessman from Columbus who was a highly decorated Tuskegee Airman. Among the other black military heroes associated with Columbus are 1st Lt. Charles Frances and Sgt. Cecil Pearson, both of whom had been stationed at Columbus Army Air Field. They began their military service in the 65th Aviation Squadron at the base. The 65th was an all black squadron in support of base operation, but with a white commanding officer.
The 65th Aviation Squadron was stationed at Columbus Army Air Field beginning in 1942. It consisted of corporals Phinezy Curry, Thaddeus Woods and 219 privates. A white officer, Capt. Lloyd Baker, commanded the squadron. There is a composite photo in the 1942 Wings Over America guide to Columbus Army Air Field that contains the names and photographs of all squadron members. The 1943 base annual/guide has a page of photos of squadron life in the 65th but no other mention. I have found no record of exactly what the squadron did other than it was not a flying squadron.
I have so far found information on two members of the 65th. Pvt. Charles E. Francis left the 65th and received pilot training at Tuskegee, earned his wings and was commissioned a lieutenant. He became a fighter pilot and one of the famed “Red Tail” Tuskegee Airmen of World War II’s European Theater. In 1955 he wrote “The Tuskegee Airmen,” the book that first brought the exploits of the Tuskegee pilots to the nation’s attention.
In the book’s appendix, he told of 14 black pilots he called the “unsung heroes.” One of them was Alva Temple who grew up in Carrollton, Alabama, and after retiring from the Air Force as a lieutenant colonel, became a businessman in Columbus.
In 1942 Cecil Pearson was a private in the 65th Squadron at CAAF and by 1943 though still at Columbus he had been promoted to sergeant. In an online shop I came across a letter he had mailed from Columbus in 1943, enclosed in a patriotic American Flag envelope. He retired from the Air Force in 1955, having ended his service in the Panama Canal Zone. He died in 1987.
The 65th Aviation Squadron was honored at the Seventh Avenue Festival in 2011, but I have found no other local mention on the internet. I have been unable to research at the Billups Garth Archives as the local library has been closed with other state and local offices.
Lost in history with the 65th is a decorated World War I combat hero from Columbus. During World War I, Columbus native son Ben C. Tucker was awarded the Croix de Guerre for bravery by the French government. He was described in the 1939 WPA history of Lowndes County as “the first colored man of the county that has achieved such distinction in the Great War.” That history described Tucker’s service and the actions that led to the French honor.
“Tucker enlisted with the Eighth Illinois National Guard at St. Louis, in December 1917, trained at Camp Logan, and went over with the 93rd Division. His first active service at the front was in the St. Mihiel sector in June, and from here the 93rd was sent into the Argonne Forest Drive. Next came the Battle of Soissons, and on October 9th, he fell while (his company was) storming a battery of German big guns unsupported. (the battery was captured) It was here that he received his wound and also the trophy of the French government’s esteem. Tucker was shot through the left breast and laid in the hospital for two months before his recovery was recorded.”
In researching this history, either online or in Columbus histories I have found little mention of these heroes. These men are true American heroes and we need to remember them and honor them. I cannot help but wonder what other brave men and women because of race, or social status might be lost in the pages of history.
Rufus Ward is a Columbus native a local historian. E-mail your questions about local history to Rufus at [email protected].
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