Charles McGee (pilot)

Brigadier General Charles Edward McGee (December 7, 1919 − January 16, 2022) was an American fighter pilot who was one of the first African American aviators in the United States military and one of the last living members of the Tuskegee Airmen.

McGee first began his career in World War II flying with the Tuskegee Airmen, an all African American military pilot group at a time of segregation in the armed forces.

His military aviation career lasted 30 years in which McGee flew 409 combat missions in World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam War.

For his service, McGee received the Distinguished Flying Cross with two oak leaf clusters and the Bronze Star Medal, along with many other military honors.

Charles McGee was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on December 7, 1919, to Lewis Allen and Ruth Elizabeth (Lewis) McGee.

His grandfather was formerly enslaved and his father served as an Army chaplain in World War I and during the Battle of the Bulge in the Second World War.

McGee met Salem Baptist Church member Frances Nelson (born 1921) in April 1942.

As a child, McGee was a member of the Boy Scouts of America and earned the Eagle Scout award on August 9, 1940.

He later served in district and regional positions in the Boy Scouts.

They were married at her home by his father on October 17, 1942.

They had three children: Charlene, Ronald, and Yvonne.

Two days after their wedding, he was sworn in as an aviation cadet.

In March 1942, McGee was a sophomore at the University of Illinois studying engineering.

While a student he was a member of the National Society of Pershing Rifles.

He also became a member of the Tau chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

Enlisting in the United States Army on October 26, 1942, in time he became part of the Tuskegee Airmen, having already earned his pilot's wings and graduated from Class 43-F on June 30, 1943.

By February 1944, McGee was stationed in Italy with the 302nd Fighter Squadron of the 332d Fighter Group, flying his first mission on Valentine's Day.

McGee flew the Bell P-39Q Airacobra, the Republic P-47D Thunderbolt, and the North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft, escorting Consolidated B-24 Liberator and Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers over Germany, Austria, and the Balkans.

During missions, he sometimes also engaged in low level strafing attacks over enemy airfields and rail yards.

On August 23, 1944, while escorting B-17s over Czechoslovakia, McGee engaged a formation of Luftwaffe fighters and shot down a Focke-Wulf Fw 190.

Now a captain, McGee had flown a total of 137 combat missions and was returned to the United States on December 1, 1944, to become an instructor for the North American B-25 Mitchell bombers flown by the 477th Bomb Group (Medium), another unit of the Tuskegee Airmen.

He remained at Tuskegee Army Air Field until 1946, when the base was closed.

After World War II, McGee was sent to Lockbourne Army Air Field (now Rickenbacker ANGB, Columbus, Ohio) to become the base operations and training officer, later in 1948, being posted to an Aircraft Maintenance Technical Course and was assigned to an air refueling unit.

Continuing his service with the United States Air Force as it was reconstituted, McGee continued to serve as a fighter pilot, flying Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star and Northrop F-89 Scorpion aircraft.

Lewis was also at various times a teacher, social worker, African Methodist Episcopal minister (ultimately a Unitarian minister and one of the first African Americans as such), and later an activist during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

The family frequently moved during Charles's childhood.

He had two siblings, his older brother Lewis and younger sister Ruth.

His mother died shortly after his sister was born.

When the Korean War broke out, he flew P-51 Mustangs again in the 67th Fighter Bomber Squadron, completing 100 missions, and was promoted to major.

During the Vietnam War, as a lieutenant colonel, McGee flew 172 combat missions in a McDonnell RF-4 photo-reconnaissance aircraft.

After a series of other appointments-both in the United States as well as in Italy and West Germany, McGee retired at the rank of colonel, on January 31, 1973.

In a 30-year active service career, McGee achieved a three-war fighter mission total of 409 combat missions, one of the highest by any Air Force fighter pilot.

Frances McGee passed away February 22, 1994, at the age of 73.

They were married for over 51 years.

In 2007, as a member of the Tuskegee Airmen, McGee received the Congressional Gold Medal.

McGee told the BBC in 2007 that "[Our success] made it possible for President Truman to issue orders mandating all of the service to integrate", referring to Executive Order 9981 that President Harry Truman signed into law in 1948, which ended racial segregation in the United States Armed Forces.

At the 2010 National Scout Jamboree, he was recognized with the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award.

In 2011, he was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame and in February 2020, was promoted from colonel to brigadier general.

During his Southeast Asia combat tour, McGee served as the Squadron Commander of the 16th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron (TRS), of the 460th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, which was based at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, in South Vietnam.

The 16th TRS flew the RF-4C "photo-recce" Phantom II jet aircraft.