Member of Tuskegee Airmen addresses Questers group

GROSSE POINTE PARK — One local group got a chance to hear about history from someone who lived it.

The Pettipointe Questers #243 invited Bill Welborne — a retired Tuskegee Airman — to talk about the famed military group during a meeting of the Questers chapter May 4 at the Ewald Branch of the Grosse Pointe Public Library in Grosse Pointe Park.

Pettipointe Questers 2nd Vice President and Program Coordinator Dona DeSantis-Reynolds said Welborne was a “very important person” from a “very important time in our history that should be recognized.” She said she offered to pick up Welborne and give him a ride to the library, but the vibrant senior politely declined, saying he’d drive himself.

“He’s just an amazing, amazing man,” DeSantis-Reynolds said. “He’s got a lot of spunk, a lot of energy … and I’m very honored to have him here today.”

The Tuskegee Airmen — so named because they trained at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama — were the first African-American flying group in the U.S. military. As members of the U.S. Army Air Forces, they first trained during World War II.

One of the three surviving members of the original group of Tuskegee Airmen, Welborne lives in Detroit and is chair of the Membership Committee. He has three children and five grandchildren. He said he joined the military in 1948 and found himself stationed at a base in Biloxi, Mississippi, where his commanding officer told him, “‘I don’t like colored folks.’”

“I had just finished school,” Welborne said. “I had just turned 18. It was tough down there.”

With poster boards featuring photos and information about some of the most notable Tuskegee Airmen, Welborne recounted the history of the group, which got its start in January 1941 as the first all-Black 99th Pursuit Squadron of the U.S. Army Air Corps (later renamed the U.S. Army Air Forces).

Despite their successes and courage on the battlefield, the Tuskegee Airmen continuously faced racism and discrimination.

A retired chief master sergeant, Welborne spent 33 years in the military. He now travels on speaking engagements to share the history of the Tuskegee Airmen with people around the country, a role that has taken him to California, Colorado, Illinois, South Carolina and Utah, among other places.

During his military career, he said he visited 122 countries.

“I loved it,” Welborne said. “Where (else) can I find a job that’s going to feed me, pay me and let me travel the world?”

Welborne grew up in Detroit and Montgomery, Alabama. He was a crew chief — aka aircraft mechanic. He retired from active duty in 1981.

“I used to tell the guys all the time, I’m the best (mechanic) in the Air Force,” Welborne said.

He said there were roughly 16,000 to 20,000 members of the Tuskegee Airmen, almost 1,000 of whom were pilots.

DeSantis-Reynolds said they were donating $200 on behalf of the Questers toward Tuskegee Airmen efforts.

Welborne said the money will be used for the Young Eagles program, in which veterans like him take youths on flights around the city as they introduce them to aviation. Started in 1992, the Young Eagles program gives youths ages 8 to 17 their first complimentary ride in an airplane. In 2022, the program undertook more than 500 flights. The flights take place out of Detroit City Airport on the second Sunday of the month from April to October, Welborne said.

After his presentation, Welborne said he wants people to know that the Tuskegee Airmen “were dedicated and wanted to fight for their country.”

While they might not have gotten the respect and accolades they deserved during their years of service, the Tuskegee Airmen are finally starting to get recognition for their heroism and patriotism.