The national theme for Black History Month is “African Americans in Times of War”.  Bear Truth News will pay tribute to several individuals who have contributed to the struggle for liberation.

Alfred Anderson wanted to fly ever since he was a little boy. He saved up enough money to take lessons, but no one would teach a black man. He didn’t give up. He went to aviation ground school and hung around airports to learn as much as he could. He knew the only way he could really learn was to buy a plane, so he did. Then a white pilot wanted to use it. He made a deal with the pilot to let him use the plane if the pilot would teach Anderson to fly. He learned to fly and ended up flying for the First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. She said she had heard that blacks couldn’t fly. He became the chief instructor for the first African American fighter squadron, the Tuskegee Airmen. They helped to defeat the Nazis in World War II. They thought their bravery would lead to freedom at home. But when they got back to America, their bravery had been forgotten.