THE P 51 MUSTANG From 1944 through the end of World War II the primary aircraft flown by Tuskegee Airmen in the 332nd Fighter Group was the P 51 Mustang Experts on both sides of the conflict agreed the P 51 was among the best fighter airplanes of the war The first model of the aircraft known as the P 51A entered service with the US military in March 1942 However the airplane's engine lacked power at high altitudes In late 1942 the military experimented with replacing the Mustang's existing engine with a Merlin engine manufactured by the British company Rolls Royce Stunky A member of the Tuskegee Airmen ground crew loads ammunition into a Mustang's wing machine gun 12
312102 sta The new engine boosted the Mustang's power immensely This new model the P 51B could fly faster and higher speeding across the sky at nearly 440 miles per hour 710 kmh Later changes made the plane even more effective The P 51D added a transparent plastic bubble canopy or cockpit enclosure allowing the pilot to see clearly in all directions This was an improvement over earlier canopies which had braces that blocked a pilot's rear vision The P 51 carried four to six machine guns and could also carry bombs and rockets Its extra external fuel tanks gave it a range of more than 1 000 miles 1 609 km Hermann Göring the commander of Germany's Luftwaffe or air force remarked after the war When I saw your bombers over Berlin protected by your long range fighters P 51 Mustangs I knew then that the Luftwaffe would be unable to stop your bombers Our weapons plants would be destroyed our defeat was inevitable 13
AN UNEXPECTEDLY HAPPY NEW YEAR Exactly six weeks later the 485th flew a mission to bomb an enemy railroad facility in northern Italy On their way back to base they learned their home runway was snowed in The bombers could not land on a snowy steel runway so they had to land elsewhere The place chosen for them was Ramitelli home base of the 332nd Fighter Group the Red Tails Ramitelli was an all black base African American soldiers and white soldiers did not live or work together on equal footing Housing the 485th at Ramitelli created an unprecedented racially integrated situation There was no telling what might happen As it turned out the stay was warm and festive The men of the 332nd shared their tents blankets rations and Christmas cookies from home The men of the 485th gratefully accepted the Red Tails hospitality Men from both groups shared their stories and a bond was forged among them If any airman was upset about the situation he kept it to himself HIDDEN HATRED Lieutenant Louis Purnell of the 332nd Fighter read complaints from a gunner of the 485th Group was responsible for censoring all mail who used derogatory language about that left Ramitelli Airfield Censoring mail was being forced to live sleep and eat with routine during World War II Censors read African American airmen the mail and blacked out any information the Purnell did not want to upset what was enemy might find useful otherwise a peaceful situation so he said During the 485th's stay at Ramitelli nothing But the letter reminded him racist Purnell's duties included censoring the hate could still burn beneath an appearance white men's letters In one letter Purnell of friendship and calm 14
Due to the segregation of the US military Ramitelli had been set aside as an African American base As they rang in the new year together the airmen of the 485th and the Red Tails at Ramitelli showed what could happen when African Americans and white Americans met as equals But this sort of experience unfortunately was unusual for African Americans In fact it had been a long hard battle for the Tuskegee Airmen simply to gain the right to serve their country in combat 15
