George E. Hardy, Tuskegee Airman, dies at 100

""Colonel Hardy was an amazing man. He was a patriot. He loved his family. He loved his community. He loved our organization," Leon Butler Jr., national president of Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., told NPR on Saturday. "He worked very hard. He worked tirelessly to preserve the legacy, not for himself, but for those that he served with, and he cared about the families of other original Tuskegee Airmen.""

"He completed 21 missions across Europe, according to the U.S. Air Force. He was the youngest Red Tail fighter pilot with the Tuskegee Airmen, the first Black aviators of the U.S. Armed Forces, according to the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. Hardy recalled during an interview with the Veterans History Project that while he was stationed in Italy he did not encounter the systemic racism that he did while in the states but there was still segregation."

Lt. Col. George E. Hardy, a Tuskegee Airman who flew combat missions in Europe during World War II, died at age 100. He joined the U.S. Army Air Corps at 18 in July 1943 and began pilot training at Tuskegee Army Air Field in December 1943. He graduated in September 1944, was commissioned a second lieutenant, and served with the 332nd Fighter Group and the 99th Fighter Squadron at Ramitelli Air Base, Italy. He completed 21 missions and was the youngest Red Tail fighter pilot. He experienced segregation overseas and worked tirelessly to preserve the Tuskegee legacy and support fellow airmen and their families.

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