Back in 1927, when he was 4 years old, William Holloman was swept up in the excitement of Charles Lindbergh’s cross-Atlantic flight and all the attention it brought him.
He decided then and there he wanted to fly.
His dream stayed alive as he got older, but there was one problem: Holloman is black. And that made joining the Navy to become a flyer something that he could not do.
Instead, he joined the Air Force and became part of the legendary Tuskegee Airmen, a regiment of black fighter pilots who proved that African Americans could do anything white pilots could do and helped lead the way to the integration of the Armed Forces and the country itself.
“We were the beginning of the civil rights movement,” Holloman told a packed room full of students, teachers, administrators and family members during a presentation Wednesday at Kent Mountain View Academy.
Holloman said he always wanted to fly, but couldn’t get a job because of his skin color and thrilled those in attendance with his tales of courage, battle and overcoming the harsh segregation and racism that characterized much of the African American Experience in the 20th century.
Holloman said the Tuskegee story began with Eleanor Roosevelt, who visited the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, saw the airfield and decided she wanted to go for a flight.
“They were screaming bloody murder and told her she couldn’t go up,” Holloman told the rapt students.
At that time, people believed that blacks did not have the coordination to do something as complicated as fly a plane and when Roosevelt got into a plane with an African American pilot, the secret service made a frantic call to Washington.
“The first lady’s going up in an airplane with this colored man and we can’t stop her!” he said they told the president, who replied that if the first lady wanted to fly, she was going to fly.
When she returned to Washington, D.C., Roosevelt tried to put everyone straight.
“’They fly just like everybody else,’” Holloman reported she said.
Soon after, Congress appropriated the money to build the airfield in Tuskegee, where the first African American pilots were trained, in spite of the top brass’ trepidation they weren’t coordinated enough.
“Anybody see Tiger Woods?” Holloman asked the kids, eliciting laughter at the “narrow minds” in the War Department at that time.
During their training in Alabama, Holloman said he and his fellow fighters were subjected to everyday racism, such as having to purchase a movie ticket and then walk around the block to get to the colored entrance and seats.
“It was so depressing I never went back,” he said.
Years later, he said he returned to the theater with the city’s mayor, who invited him to walk through the front door for the first time.
“I just went in to see what the downstairs looked like,” he said.
Holloman and his fellow airmen completed their training and were finally shipped over to North Africa to support the war effort, protecting bombers from German fighters.
Known for the famous red tails of their aircraft, the Tuskegee Airmen shattered the belief that blacks didn’t have the same capabilities as white pilots, even landing on the front page of the New York Times, with a headline that according to Holloman read “Colored Flyers Stole the Show” after his squadron shot down 18 German planes in two days over Italy.
“We did 311 missions with the 15th Air Force,” he said. “The bomber crews loved to see the red tails because they knew we’d stick with them.”
While in Europe, Holloman said he got a taste of what it was like to live in places without the overt racism in the United States, where when he returned, he could still not get a job as a commercial airline pilot because of the color of his skin, he said, which led him to continue his military career so he could keep flying.
“I became a career military person because I wanted to fly for the airlines, but my skin was too dark,” he said.
Stationed in Mississippi, Holloman continued to experience the racism around him, despite his heroics in World War II. Holloman said he was harassed by police, especially when he was driving with his wife, a Creole woman who looked white. Often, he feared he might be lynched.
In 1957, Holloman moved to Canada to become a commercial airline pilot, because there they didn’t care what color his skin was, just what he could do. Still in the reserves, Holloman was called back to service in Vietnam, but only came back on the condition that he would not be stationed in the U.S. Instead, he was stationed in Germany.
“I loved Germany. We were treated like people,” he said.
Today, Holloman lives in Kent and speaks all over about his experiences with the Tuskegee Airmen, reminding people that African Americans played a big role in the history of World War II, even if the country didn’t recognize their accomplishments until recently.
“I was there,” he said. “I was part of the Greatest Generation.”
He also implored the students to work hard and not let anything deter them from their dreams.
“It’s not difficult if you’re determined,” he said, imploring the students find jobs they would like to do and not just because they need money.
“Don’t work just to work,” he said. “Do what you enjoy. Be happy getting up and going to work.”
Holloman also answered the students questions, especially those about how far we have come, admitting he cried at the election of the first African-American president, whom he met when Barack Obama was a senator in 2006 and who called to invite him to the inauguration, which he attended with his sons.
“I thought ‘How does he remember my name?’” Holloman said with a chuckle.
“I never expected the country to be liberal enough to elect a black president,” he told the kids. “We have come a long way, nut I still think we have a long way to go.”
Holloman’s story left the students completely rapt and several left inspired. Almost every student and teacher lined up to get a picture with the Airman.
“His story is amazing,” said freshman Javae Jones, 14. “I got that no matter what you are going through, you can always find a way.
“It makes me feel good to know I don;t have to deal with that,” he said of the challenges Holloman faced.
“Man he’s experienced a lot of stuff,” said senior Foster Liggins, 17, adding tat he liked hearing how Holloman used the racism around him as a fuel to be the best he could.
“You can do anything in life if you put your mind to it,” Liggins said. “This was good. He had so many experiences.”
Aryal Schifano, 16, said she was planning on joining the military and found Holloman’s stories “amazing” and said she did research on the Tuskegee Airman before hearing Holloman speak.
“I think it’s an amazing story what they did for their country and their race,” she said. “I’m leaving with a smile on my face from meeting one of my heroes.”
Instructional Facilitator Pat Gallagher helped arrange the visit and and said it was important for these kids to connect with those who fought in World War II and meet someone who overcame incredible obstacles and prejudice.
“I want them to walk out excited they’ve been in the presence of an American hero, an American legend,” he said. “He’s one of us. He;s an American. Frankly, he’s teaching us how to be better Americans.”
For his part, Holloman was humble about his role, citing those who came before him.
“I think that what I went through was I had to fight to get to do what I wanted to do,” he said. “The door was closed in 1940.
“My job was to keep it open,” he said.
“I was with a group of people that proved you can do anything if you apply yourself,” he said. “I’m just a message carrier.”
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