SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
America's lost a hero. George Hardy had never driven a car before he joined the Tuskegee Airmen in 1944. A few months later, he was a fighter pilot and flew missions all over Europe, part of the heralded all-Black squadron that was formed during World War II, when the U.S. military was still segregated.
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GEORGE HARDY: So many fellas paid a price for that, so you lost a lot of good friends. But they were part of the effort to prove that we could fly - fly as well as anyone else.
SIMON: George Hardy, speaking in an interview with the American Veteran Center in 2019. Later in his career, he flew missions in Korea and Vietnam and retired as an Air Force lieutenant colonel. George Hardy, one of the last surviving combat veterans of the Tuskegee Airmen, died last week at the age of 100.
We're joined now by the national president of Tuskegee Airmen Incorporated, Leon Butler Jr. Mr. Butler, I know you were a friend of George Hardy. Our condolences to you.
LEON BUTLER JR: Thank you very much, and I'm happy to be here with you.
SIMON: What made him such an extraordinary pilot?
BUTLER: Colonel Hardy was one of those rare talents. He's an extraordinary individual. He possessed a combination of toughness, perseverance, resilience and a high level of skill and intellectual curiosity. He was always wanting to learn new things about a lot of different subjects. So I think all of those things came together to make him an outstanding fighter pilot and, for sure, an outstanding human being.
SIMON: He was only 19 when he became a pilot.
BUTLER: That is an incredible thing to think about. Can you imagine being a 19-year-old, flying - the front-line fighter of the United States military, flying combat missions over Europe? It's amazing.
SIMON: Colonel Hardy flew 21 missions during World War II, 45 during the Korean War, 70 during the war in Vietnam. Forgive me. Any close calls?
BUTLER: Yes. He loved to tell the story about a mission he flew in the P-51 over Germany. He was assigned to do a strafing run. And for those that are not familiar, strafing is where you fly the aircraft relatively low to the ground, pass over a target multiple times, firing your machine guns to destroy the target. It's very dangerous. You're low-altitude. You're vulnerable to enemy return fire, not just from antiaircraft but even from small arms. He did the - one strafing run, and as he was pulling up, he felt the aircraft being hit. And he looked down, and he saw right through his feet. There were holes in the aircraft. And so what that meant was his aircraft was indeed struck. Any of those rounds could have easily struck him.
And so he tells about that being a near-death experience. It was an eye-open experience, and from that point on, he knew this flying game wasn't just a game. It was serious business. I think he always realized that, but when you have that close encounter, it does readjust your attitude. The enemy does shoot back. The enemy does have a vote, so you got to take it seriously.
SIMON: Mr. Butler, what was it like for George Hardy and other Tuskegee Airmen to risk their lives fighting for a country you loved, only to come back home and be told to sit in the back of public transit buses, to have to use separate entrances and water fountains and bathrooms and to live in a segregated America?
BUTLER: From their point of view, it was dehumanizing. It was disappointing. It was angering. They sacrificed so much. This country - we talk a lot about merit. We talk a lot about qualification and service. They rose to the occasion at that time, you know, in the middle of widespread discrimination, especially where their initial training was held in Tuskegee, Alabama, deep in the South, where Jim Crow was in full effect on and off base. They didn't allow that to stop them from achieving excellence, from performing valiantly in the face of battle, not just against fascism abroad but racism at home.
SIMON: I have to ask. All the appearances he made over the years, all the conversations he had, can you ever recall George Hardy taking the question, Colonel, why did you fly for a country that wouldn't treat you as a full citizen?
BUTLER: I never heard him take that specific question, but I did hear that topic mentioned on several occasions. And the one thing that he would always say - it was, this is my country, too. I believe he internalized that. And to me, that is the mark of a true patriot, someone - despite what's going on around you, you still have a love for the place of your birth, and not just for selfish reasons but because you want to make the country a better place. And so that is an amazing legacy. It's an amazing example I think we all should follow.
SIMON: Leon Butler Jr. is the national president of Tuskegee Airmen Incorporated. Thanks so much for being with us.
BUTLER: Thank you so much for having me.
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