Fort Worth’s new veterans home will honor the US’ first Black military aviators
The Texas Veterans Land Board voted to name the state’s new Veterans Home in Fort Worth after the Tuskegee Airmen during a virtual meeting Thursday, honoring the first Black military aviators in the U.S. Armed Forces.
The State Veterans Home, the 10th in Texas, will have its official groundbreaking at 9 a.m. Aug. 19 at 2200 Joe B. Rushing Road, according to a Fort Worth Metropolitan Black Chamber of Commerce press release.
Texas General Land Office spokesman Matt Atwood said the official name of the building will be unveiled at the groundbreaking event.
Members of the Fort Worth Metropolitan Black Chamber of Commerce led a campaign for the home to come to Fort Worth and have it named after the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of elite Black airmen who flew combat aircraft in World War II.
Tuskegee Airmen served during a time when the military was segregated.
The group of more than 900 Black pilots trained at the Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama and flew more than 1,500 missions in North Africa and Italy.
The group was subjected to discrimination during their time in the Armed Forces, but have since been honored for their legacy and wartime achievements. The airmen were collectively awarded a Congressional Gold Medal in 2007, were inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame in 2008 and were commemorated in the George Lucas film “Red Tails” in 2012.
Fort Worth was home to at least five Tuskegee Airmen, with the city’s last surviving member, Robert T McDaniel, dying in 2019 at 96.
State Veterans Homes provide long-term nursing care for qualified veterans.
Local officials, including Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley, Tarrant County Commissioner Roy Brooks and State Sen. Beverly Powell, sent letters of support for the home to honor the Tuskegee Airmen.
During Thursday’s meeting, the Black Chamber spokesperson Bob Ray Sanders quoted a letter from Devoyd Jennings, the late president and CEO of the chamber, to the Texas General Land Office. Naming the State Home after the Tuskegee Airmen was one of Jennings’ last wishes.
In the letter, Jennings not only commended what the group did during the war, but highlighted their perseverance when they came home.
“Many of these men, including the ones in Fort Worth, returned to their homes still facing discrimination and segregation,” his letter said. “Yet, they became and remained outstanding leaders and role models in their communities.”
This story was originally published August 6, 2021 at 4:16 PM.
