Charles Herbert Flowers High School opened its doors in the year 2000. On the first day, Mr. Charles Herbert Flowers was there to celebrate it's opening. Mr. C.H. Flowers is the first living person in our county's history to have a school named after him or her. I looked at him, and I wasn't the only one who could tell how proud he was, how proud he was of the school, a new technologically advanced school, and of the students, the first students to set foot in this school. We have not disappointed Mr. C.H. Flowers, and we, Flower's Jaguars, never will.

Charles Herbert Flowers, a Glenarden resident, served as a Tuskegee Airman. These men trained in central Alabama at the Division of Aeronautics of Tuskegee Institute, the school of learning founded by Booker T. Washington in 1881. Before World War II, however, a false report written in the 1920s served as enough reason for the US Air Corps to disallow Negroes to maintain any role in the Air Forces. This report claimed that black Americans lacked intelligence, skill, courage and patriotism. In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the development of an all-Negro flying unit, the 99th Pursuit Squadron, which was slated for combat duty in North Africa. Additional pilots were assigned to the 322nd Fighter Group, which flew along with the 99th Squadron. The Tuskegee Airmen was a project that all of America was watching. Could Negroes fly planes?

The Tuskegee Airmen came from all over America, including Los Angeles, New York, Detroit, Chicago, and Washington D.C. After fighting for freedom, and still fighting for respect, African-Americans now wished to fight for the country. Many African-Americans couldn't see why anyone would fight for people fighting against you. Claiming that their lack of freedom affected their motivation to fight. However, the Tuskegee Airmen, while fighting for America, also fought for themselves, their children, their culture, as well as, every American citizen, for hopes that the country would accept all colors as Americans. These men perhaps had more reason to fight than anyone. They were definitely patriots.

Not only could Negroes fly planes, the Tuskegee Airmen were the best because the Tuskegee Institute only accepted the best. Only those who met extensive physical and mental qualifications were accepted. No one wanted this experiment to fail; therefore no standards were lowered. The selected were trained to fill positions such as meteorologists, intelligence officers, control tower operators, administrators, as well as a handful of other positions, as long they were qualified. The first class of thirteen blacks started in July 1941 and completed their training nine months later, March 1942. Five successfully completed the program, and four became second lieutenants. They all received silver wings. From 1942 until 1946, nine hundred and ninety-two African-Americans graduated from the Tuskegee Institute. These commissioned officers received their pilot's wings and had the intelligence to fill any position a white American could.

As for how they actually performed, the Tuskegee Airmen's 99th Fighter Squadron (formerly the 99th Pursuit Squadron) flew P-40 Warhawks in battles of North Africa. This squad was awarded two Presidential Unit Citations for demonstrating outstanding tactical air support and aerial combat. The 332nd Fighter Group also received a Presidential Citation for its performance in a bomber escort mission over Berlin 1945. They destroyed three ME-262 Jet Fighters and damaged five others all without losing a single pilot. In particular, Lieutenant Gynne Pierson of the 302nd Fighter Squadron sank a destroyer, using only 50-caliber machine guns. The German enemy feared these bomber groups. Oftentimes, these escorted squads were not challenged. Evoking fear in the enemy became an even more powerful way to protect the bombers.

Not only that, but also these men fought to continue fighting. They worked harder than most of the other escorts and they were sent on more missions although their squadron consisted of fewer men than the white units. When whites refused to have them as escorts, claiming the African-American pilots they couldn't handle the mission, the Tuskegee Airmen courageously and willingly offered more evidence that they could fly and that they were the best. They escorted white bomber squadrons. Finally Americans fought together and not one another. They both had a common enemy, a common love for America, and maybe even one another.

To be in a school named after a man who was a part of the Tuskegee Airmen makes Flowers proud. We salute all that this man stands for and are grateful for his accomplishments. Please read more about the Tuskegee Airmen in the books listed below. Don't forget that all Americans share freedom, and the fight for it.