(Credit: Photograph by Toni Frissell) Members of the 332nd Fighter Group (Tuskegee Airmen) attending a briefing in Ramitelli, Italy. Members of the 332nd, from left to right: Robert W. Williams, Ottumwa, IA, Class 44-E; (leather cap) William H. Holloman, III, St. Louis, Mo., Class 44-?; (cloth cap) Ronald W. Reeves, Washington, D.C., Class 44-G; (leather cap) Christopher W. Newman, St. Louis, MO, Class 43-I; (flight cap) Walter M. Downs, New Orleans, LA, Class 43-B (Source: Photographer's notes and Tuskegee Airmen 332nd Fighter Group pilots.), March, 1945. Library of Congress
Col. James Williams wrote through his grief after losing “Coach,” also known as Roscoe Draper, who had passed on Oct. 31 at the age of 105. Draper was the last living instructor of the legendary Tuskegee Airmen, and a “legend in his own right,” according to Williams.
In his guest editorial on PennLive.com, he recalled his connection to a man who served in World War II, including his help routing his flight plans in and out of Wings Airfield in Blue Bell, located in Whitpain Township.
But it wasn’t just his saving of gas and time that struck Williams, who recalls a lifetime of mentoring, visits, and historical yarns from a man that was truly a living legacy of the country’s past.
Read Williams’ full article online here, shared on Veterans Day 2024.
