Story
Red Tail Reborn is described by AllMovie as "... the story of the brave African-American pilots who risked their lives in order to ensure that peace prevailed, and the people who have dedicated their lives to ensure that they are not forgotten." [1] It tells three stories in one: the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, the history of the Red Tail Mustangs they flew (one of which is the subject of the restoration efforts) and the story of the late Don Hinz who crashed the first restored Mustang in 2004. [2]
The film sheds light on the bravery and heroism of the Tuskegee Airmen in their service as bomber escorts for the Allied Forces in the European Theatre of World War II. [1] It documents that the Tuskegee Airmen were the country's first African American military aviators taking flight in World War II, despite contemporary stereotyping of African American men as lacking the essential intellectual and emotional qualities necessary to fly. The film even presents government documents deriding African American men as substandard and "cowards". It describes segregation endured by the African American military officers, and it describes how these pilots distinguished themselves with their record. [3]
It details the evolution of the Red Tail Project mission and the re-dedication to this enthusiasm when the mission's leader perished while flying a plane in homage to the Tuskegee Airmen. [1] This includes an explanation of the provenance of the plane and the various restoration efforts that led up to the Red Tail Project. [4]
History and production
Among those that Cleveland filmmaker White interviewed to make the film were 13 of the Tuskegee airmen. Several of the Tuskegee Airmen were from the northeast Ohio region. [3] One of the veterans interviewed was Colonel Charles McGee, who had served in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War and whom White said had more combat flight hours than any other American. [3] The film was shot in Billings, Montana. [5] The film was produced to help increase awareness and elicit financial support for The Red Tail Project. [6] The film was produced by Cleveland-based Hemlock Films, which is White's production company. [7] It was underwritten by the Parker Hannifin Corporation. [8]
The film was inspired while White was filming The Restorers , after a P-51C Mustang landed for refueling and White met Doug Rozendaal, the pilot of the Red Tail Project's Tuskegee Airmen plane. When White heard Don Hinz had been killed in a crash of that very same plane, he felt compelled to do a story focusing on it. Once he got involved in the project, a local PBS station committed to airing the final product, which was an early step in the successful development of the project. When researching the film he noticed a lack of resources about the Tuskegee Airmen and felt driven to fill the void. [9]
Airings and DVD release
The film premiered at the MAPS Air Museum at the Akron-Canton Regional Airport in Green, Ohio on Saturday February 10, 2007 and debuted during a simulcast on Western Reserve Public Media, PBS network stations serving northeastern Ohio, the following day. [10] The stations re-aired the show four more times between February 13 and 20. [10] [11] The film debuted in western Ohio at Wright State University on March 22, 2007 at which time a two-disc DVD was made available. [12] It was released to the general public in DVD format on March 23, 2007. [13] The film, which was not rated, was available in 1.33:1 aspect ratio and in Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, widescreen format. [13] was produced in color format. The film began national PBS broadcasts during Black History Month in February 2008, reaching over 300 affiliates in its initial national airing, [14] although specific dates and times varied from station to station. [15] The PBS airings began on February 5. [9] PBS also aired the film later in 2008 during its November Veterans Day programming. [16] [17]
The DVD release includes a second disc with four hours of additional interviews, deleted scenes, and productions stills. A reviewer from Flight Journal , feels the DVD package will connect with an audience of actual and aspiring restorers of military combat aircraft, which sometimes referred to as warbirds. It notes that the narrator, Michael Dorn, is a warbird owner and pilot. [18]
The Tuskegee Airmen was a group of African American military pilots and airmen who fought in World War II. They formed the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). The name also applies to the navigators, bombardiers, mechanics, instructors, crew chiefs, nurses, cooks, and other support personnel. The Tuskegee airmen received praise for their excellent combat record earned while protecting American bombers from enemy fighters. The group was awarded three Distinguished Unit Citations.
The Tuskegee Airmen is a 1995 HBO television movie based on the exploits of an actual groundbreaking unit, the first African-American combat pilots in the United States Army Air Corps, that fought in World War II. The film was directed by Robert Markowitz and stars Laurence Fishburne, Cuba Gooding Jr., John Lithgow, and Malcolm-Jamal Warner.
Alexander Jefferson (POW) (WIA) was an American Air Force officer, famous as one of the Tuskegee Airmen, the 332nd Fighter Group. He served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II.
Lee Archer WW2 Fighter Ace
Milton Pitts Crenchaw was an American aviator who served with the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II and was the first Arkansan to be trained by the federal government as a civilian licensed pilot. He served during World War II as a civilian flight instructor. He was one of the two original supervising squadron members. In 1998 he was inducted into the Arkansas Aviation Hall of Fame. The grandson of a slave, he was known as the "father of black aviation in Arkansas" who broke through color barriers in the military.
Red Tails is a 2012 American war film directed by Anthony Hemingway in his feature directorial debut, and starring Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding Jr. The film is about the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African-American United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) servicemen during World War II. The characters in the film are fictional, although based on real individuals. The film was produced by Lucasfilm Ltd. and released by 20th Century Fox, and would be the last film Lucasfilm released before being purchased by The Walt Disney Company nine months later. This was Cuba Gooding Jr.'s first theatrically released film in five years since his starring role in 2007's Daddy Day Camp.
The Red Tail Squadron, part of the non-profit Commemorative Air Force (CAF), known as the Red Tail Project until June 2011, maintains and flies a World War II era North American P-51C Mustang. The twice-restored aircraft flies to create interest in the history and accomplishments of the members of the World War II-era 332nd Fighter Group, also known as the Tuskegee Airmen, whose distinctive red markings on the tails of the P-51s they flew during that war, gave the organization its name.
The Restorers is a 2003 documentary film by Adam White about restoration of vintage war planes ranging from the F4U Corsair to the B-17 "Yankee Lady". White interviewed dozens of people who have dedicated much of their lives and thousands of dollars to restore planes for museums, air shows, or their own personal collections. The subjects range from people who restore planes in their own garages to major corporations; the end results range from planes that are used in exhibitions and air shows to planes that are restored as racing vehicles.
Flight of the Red Tail is a 2009 historical documentary film by Adam White about the Red Tail Project's successful return to flight of a World War II P-51 Mustang. The plane had been originally flown by the United States Air Force 332d Fighter Group as a bomber escort for the Allied Forces in the European Theatre of World War II and serves as a travelling and flying tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen. It had become inoperable during a 2004 crash after having been restored for exhibition flying once before in 2001. The Red Tail Project is a part of the Commemorative Air Force. The film is a sequel to Red Tail Reborn which brought attention to the attempt to relaunch of the plane after the 2004 crash.
Spann Watson was an American military aviator and civil servant who served with the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II. He flew over 30 missions in North Africa, Italy and Southern Europe. On March 2007, Watson attended a ceremony in the U.S. Capitol rotunda, where he and other surviving veterans of the Tuskegee Airmen were honored with the Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of their service. He died on April 15, 2010, aged 93.
Louis Rayfield Purnell, Sr. was a noted curator at the United States' National Air and Space Museum and earlier in life, a decorated Tuskegee Airman. At the museum, he became expert in space flight artifacts, particularly spacesuits, and was instrumental in curating artifacts related to space exploration, during the pivotal years of the 1960s and into the 1980s. Purnell was the first African-American to become a curator at the Smithsonian Institution.
Hiram Mann was an American aviator, retired lieutenant colonel in the United States Air Force, and member of the Tuskegee Airmen's 332nd Fighter Group, an elite squadron of African-American airmen during World War II. Mann flew forty-eight missions over Europe as a member of the 332nd Fighter Group during the war. Mann was a member of the "Red Tails," as the Tuskegee Airmen were called at the time, so-called because the tails of the P-51D Mustangs flown by the African-American pilots in combat missions were painted crimson red.. Mann nicknamed his own fighter plane "The Iron Lady" after his wife.
2nd Lt. Alfred M. Gorham (1920–2009) (POW) was a Tuskegee Airman from Waukesha, Wisconsin. He was the only Tuskegee Airman from Wisconsin, and he was a prisoner of war after his plane went down over Munich, Germany in World War II.
Paul Adams was a World War II pilot with the Tuskegee Airmen. He was one of the first black teachers in the Lincoln Nebraska public school system. Adams also served as the president of the Lincoln Chapter of the NAACP. In 2008 the city of Lincoln Nebraska built a new elementary school and named it after Adams. The mascot of the school in an aviator.
Walter P. Manning (POW) † was an American fighter pilot of the primarily African American Tuskegee Airmen. He flew 50 missions, and was awarded the Air Medal for heroism six times. After being shot down in 1945, he was captured in Austria and subsequently lynched by a mob. He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2007 along with all other Tuskegee Airmen. Manning is the only known black man to have been lynched in Austria during World War II.
Lawrence Dickson † was an American pilot and a member of the famed group of the World War II-era Tuskegee Airmen. Dickson flew 68 mission in World War II before he was forced to eject from his aircraft over Austria in 1944. Dickson was declared missing in action. On July 27, 2018, Dickson's remains were identified by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
Flight Officer John Lyle was an American World War II pilot and a member of the famed group of World War II-era African-Americans known as the Tuskegee Airmen. Dickson flew 26 combat missions during WWII. He had a lifelong love of sailing and over the course of his life he owned seven different boats. He was nicknamed Captain Jack for his love of sailing.
Flight Officer William Armstrong † was a member of the famed group of World War II-era African-Americans known as the Tuskegee Airmen. His plane was shot down on Easter Sunday in 1945 over Austria. In 2018 he was inducted into the Rhode Island Aviation Hall of Fame.
John "Ellis" Edwards was an American aviator who served with the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II. He served in the 332nd Fighter Group and earned the Distinguished Flying Cross award. He also served as a pilot in the Korean War.
Harold H. Brown was a U.S. Army Air Force officer who served during World War II as a combat fighter pilot with the 332nd Fighter Group, best known as the Tuskegee Airmen. Brown's P-51C aircraft was shot down in the European Theatre of World War II and he became a prisoner of war.
