Full days, at the age of 100, George Hardy, the last living pilot prosecution of the legendary first “black flocks” of the US, known as “Tasquiggies”, who acted above occupied Europe during World War II, passed away. Since the beginning of 1945, George Hardy, as a “P-51” pilot, took part in 21 war missions, at the age of just 19, accompanying American bombers in targets in the heart of Nazi Germany, during the latest and most bloody phase of the war.

Exaggerating from a rough airport in the Apulia region in southern Italy, he was flying over the Adriatic and the Yugoslav coasts along with his other colleagues with the “Mastang” cars with the red tails of the 332nd (African-American) flocks, They took off from southern England to hit the Third Reich.

“He leaves us with his courage, his resilience, his terrible skill and his perseverance against racism, prejudice and other suffering,” a spokesman for the Tasquing Aviation Foundation said in a statement. “We are forever grateful for his sacrifice and we will keep his memory lime.”

African -American aviators come to the forefront

When Franklin Roosevelt was re -elected in 1940, he promised to allow African Americans to train as fighting pilots. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, and America’s entry into the war, the need for ready -made fighting pilots increased dramatically.

At that time the Air Force was not a separate branch of the US Armed Forces, and while tens of hundreds of young Americans were involved in the military offices for ranking, the Navy refused to accept the ranks of the African Americans who wanted to train as a ” The only opportunity for an African -American “to chase his dream”, and to become a war pilot was the Army Air Force.

Taskigi, a city in Alabama, USA, was the “Mecca” for the training of all African -American Air Force pilots in World War II. The good weather conditions of the area, and the airport on the premises of which was already trained by African -American pilots to receive a political diploma were the main reason for the site. The first students of the School began to be trained in July 1941, and completed their studies nine months later.

There, in 1943, Hardy was sent as an Army Air Force pilot, only 17 years old, and graduated in 1944 as a lieutenant -column of prosecution in monocation aircraft. He fought with the first purely African -American 332nd flock of prosecution of the 15th Air Fleet, based on Italy.

Since July 1944 the Americans had thrown into the battle the “P-51 Mustang”, one of the best persecution of World War II, as it could fly faster and more radius than any Allied pursuit, but not by the German jets.

Hardy recalls in an interview in 2015 that when the bombers’ escort mission was over, if he still had enough gasoline in the tank, he went low and he had a trucks or carnations in front of him.

According to Daniel Holman of the USAF historic department, “Tasquiggie’s aviators faced two enemies, the Nazis abroad and racism in their homeland, and really fought for others to be free.”

At the end of the war, Hardy was demobilized to return to active action in 1948 with the US Air Force in the Korean War, where he was flying as a co-pilot with the beastly “B-29”. In a mission, a senior officer recalled him from a scheduled flight because of his color. In that mission, this aircraft was shot down over North Korea.

Later in the war in Vietnam, a night aircraft will fly into night operations.

In total, he took part in 136 war missions in three different wars.