Tuskegee Airman Alex Jefferson To Speak At EAA AirVenture Museum

March 7, 2005 - Alex Jefferson, member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen, African-American pilots who overcame racism to fly combat missions during World War II, will speak at a special free program at 6:30 p.m. CT this Wednesday (March 9) at the EAA AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh. EAA members away from Oshkosh can view a live webcast live on the EAA members only website, http://members.eaa.org. Jefferson, a noted speaker who now lives in Detroit, graduated from pilot training at Tuskegee (Alabama) Army Air Field in January 1944. He flew 18 combat missions as a P-51 pilot based at Ramitelli, Italy. In August 1944, Jefferson's aircraft was shot down by ground fire while strafing radar stations on the coast of southern France. Captured by German troops, he spent nine months as a POW. Liberated by American forces in April 1945, Jefferson visited the infamous concentration camp at Dachau, where he witnessed at firsthand the atrocities committed by the Nazis.

The program will be held in the museum's Eagle Hangar near a T-6 trainer aircraft actually used by the Tuskegee Airmen in the 1940s. It is one of only two such aircraft that are still known to exist.

To view the webcast, log onto http://members.eaa.org. (RealPlayer or Windows Media Player required to view the program. The program will be archived for public viewing at a later time.)