Black Pilots Reunite at Reese, Where They Trained.

Sunday, May 31, 2009
Story last updated at 5/31/2009 - 2:28 am

Remembering the struggles they went through to earn their wings, Hank Taylor and about a dozen mostly retired black pilots on Saturday walked around the old Reese Air Force Base.

Nearly 40 years ago, these men were in the midst of a civil rights-era struggle for racial equality in the air.

"We're sort of on the heels of the Tuskegee Airman," Taylor said, alluding to the all-black World War II air-combat unit based in Tuskegee, Ala.

Geoffrey Mcallister/ Lubbock A-J

For many of the graying airmen, the reunion Friday and Saturday was the first chance in more than 30 years to recall the days when they earned their wings in the West Texas sky. But Taylor,

a co-organizer of the reunion who now flies cargo planes for FedEx, said not all graduates of the program were eager to return. Some refused to come back to Lubbock.

"The experience we had in Lubbock was not the best of experiences," Taylor, who was born and raised in Philadelphia, said, describing how racial attitudes among many in Lubbock were similar to those in other Southern cities during the turbulent civil rights era. And those sentiments weren't limited to people in the city.

"Some of the instructors weren't excited about having as many of us there as were there," he said, not elaborating.

Despite the Air Force program, a young black man at the base sometimes could be a bit isolated, said retired U.S. Air Force Col. Bill Jordan, a 1969 graduate of the training school.

"Out of 84 students, there was one black student in my class - me," he said, explaining a typical class had about six black students.

And riots around the country following the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 that raised tensions at the base didn't help. Jordan recalled walking into a snack bar when a white airman asked him: "Why are your people burning down our country?"

"I hope they burn the whole country down," Jordan responded, admitting he used harsher language at the time.

Following his outburst, Jordan said, he was labeled a militant by some on the base and was worried his anger-inspired words would end his chance to become a pilot.

"But I just kept trying and I made it through," he said.

Despite occasional tension, Jordan said, Air Force officials praised Reese for having the best social environment of any base.

Geoffrey Mcallister/ Lubbock A-J

"Pilot's wings are a very valuable thing and they don't give them to everybody," he said of the distinction that gave the dozens of black men who graduated from the program a chance to attain their dream jobs.

Carl Lewis, a 1973 graduate, said he "had to come to a facility like this to learn how to fly fast jets."

Lewis, who retired from American Airlines three years ago after a 30-year-career with the airline, said he set his mind on becoming an airline pilot in high school.

"That's when people had on suits and ties when they got on airplanes," he said. "Now people wear shorts and flip-flops."

Steve Harris, a 1972 graduate from Reese, said he was glad he and the pilots he helped change the color of the face of aviation with were able to reunite at the base where the dream was realized for many of them.

Harris explained that he holds little grudge for the occasional racist remarks that once came from his instructors and peers. He said he pays more attention to the memories of the friends he made.

"You remember the good things more than the bad things," he said.

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