The Tuskegee Airmen – Pt. 3: Jim Crow’s Graveyard

The Tuskegee Airmen -- Part 3 – Jim Crow’s Graveyard. Shooting down #German airplanes, rather than effectively carrying out the assigned duties of close ground support and bomber escort, emerged as the criterion for the judgment of combat performance for the 99th. Ironically, at the height of the controversy stateside, the 99th received a reassignment of duties. The subsequent result: "Jim Crow's Graveyard.”  Because of the reassignment, the 99th was flying more missions and coming into greater contact with the enemy. By early December, two months after joining the 79th, and during a period that overlapped the Senate hearings, the 99th had started flying 36 to 48 sorties a day. On November 30th, the 99th flew 26 missions for a new record.