VOA慢速英语20060621b

EXPLORATIONS - Tuskegee Airmen: The First African-Americans Trained as Fighter PilotsBy Vivian Bournazian

Broadcast: Tue, 20 Jun 2006 16:00:00 UTC

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VOICE ONE:


Men of 99th Squadron in January 1944

This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program, EXPLORATIONS. Today, Shirley Griffith and I tell about the Tuskegee Airmen who served in World War Two. They were the first group of African-Americans ever trained as fighter pilots.

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There was a little fog near the ground. But the sky was clear. The airplanes flew into the air. It was only a few minutes before the planes were flying over the Mediterranean¹ Sea. The sea was calm, and very blue. It was July first, nineteen forty-three.

The planes were part of the United States Army Air Forces, the Ninety-Ninth Pursuit Squadron. They were responsible for guarding bomber² airplanes travelling to Italy.

The pilots tested their guns. When they were satisfied that their guns were in firing condition, they flew the planes into position to guard the bombers³. At the target area, the bombers began to unload their bombs. Clouds of smoke rose from the explosions.

VOICE TWO:

A group of enemy fighters immediately appeared to attack the bomber planes. The enemy airplanes flew near. The pilots of the Ninety-Ninth attacked them. In the battle that followed, the men of the Ninety-Ninth gained their first victory.

Lieutenant⁴ Charles B. Hall shot down a German airplane. He said it was the first time he had seen the enemy close enough to shoot at. He saw two German airplanes following the bombers just after the bombs were dropped.

I headed for the space between the fighters and bombers...I fired a long burst and saw my tracers penetrate⁵ the second aircraft. He was turning left, but suddenly fell off and headed straight into the ground.

Charles Hall won the Distinguished⁶ Flying Cross for his service that day. He and the other pilots of the Ninety-Ninth Pursuit Squadron had come a long way from Tuskegee, Alabama, to fight that battle.

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VOICE ONE:

In nineteen forty, blacks made up about one-point-five percent of the American Army and Navy. But they were not permitted to join the Army Air Forces and fly planes. They had begun fighting for the right to be accepted into military pilot training during World War One. In nineteen seventeen, blacks who requested acceptance into pilot training programs were told that colored air groups were not being formed at the time.

Civil rights leaders denounced the belief expressed by many whites that blacks could not fight. In nineteen thirty-one, Walter White and Robert R. Moton requested that the War Department accept blacks in the Army Air Corps⁷ for pilot training. Mister White was an official of an important organization for blacks, the National Association for the Advancement⁸ of Colored People. Mister Moton was president of a respected college for blacks, the Tuskegee Institute.

The War Department refused their request. It said that the Air Corps chose men with technical experience. The department also said that blacks were not that interested in flying. And, it said so many educated white men wanted to enter the Air Corps that many whites had to be refused acceptance.

VOICE TWO:

The War Department's refusal led many to feel that blacks would be guaranteed acceptance into the Air Corps only through legislation by Congress. Black leaders used the United States' preparation for and entry into World War Two to pressure Congress. They attacked the unfair treatment of blacks in the armed services.

In nineteen thirty-nine, Congress passed a bill that guaranteed blacks the right to be trained as military air pilots. It was proposed that a pilot training camp for blacks be established at Tuskegee, Alabama.

VOICE ONE:

Black leaders praised the signs of change within the military. Yet they continued to attack the military policy of racial separation. The War Department answered the criticisms by making plans to form several new black fighting groups. It also promoted a black Colonel, Benjamin O. Davis Senior, to Brigadier General. And, the department appointed a black judge, William Hastie, who was head of Howard University Law School, as Civilian⁹ Aide on Negro Affairs.

VOICE TWO:

Judge Hastie first opposed the establishment of a flying training school at Tuskegee. He wanted blacks to be trained along with whites, not separately. The Air Corps, however, said there was no room in other programs. It said establishing a school at Tuskegee would be the fastest way to start the training program. Judge Hastie withdrew his formal opposition¹⁰ to the plan, even though he was not satisfied with it.

Fred Patterson was president of the Tuskegee Institute then. He also objected to the separate training of black pilots at Tuskegee. He said that it was necessary to denounce forced racial separation. Mister Patterson finally accepted the program at Tuskegee. He realized blacks would be trained separately from whites any place in the United States. He saw Tuskegee as a beginning. At least blacks were now able to be military pilots.

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VOICE ONE:

The Civilian Pilot Training Program at Tuskegee trained black pilots for difficult and dangerous flying. On March seventh, nineteen forty-two, the first group of African-Americans ever to be trained as fighter pilots completed the program at Tuskegee.

General Davis's son, Benjamin O. Davis Junior, was among the first graduates. Blacks finally had won the right to fly with the Army Air Corps, now known as the Army Air Forces.

Many of the men trained at Tuskegee served in Europe with the Ninety-Ninth Pursuit Squadron. It was organized in October of nineteen forty-two. Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin O. Davis Junior commanded it.

The Ninety-Ninth was sent to the Mediterranean area in April, nineteen forty-three. The pilots were able to gain fighting experience flying over Sicily and Italy. In June of nineteen forty-three, the fighter pilots successfully attacked the Sicilian island of Pantelleria. It was the first time air power alone ... completely destroyed all enemy resistance.

The Tuskegee airmen took part in the most famous battles in Italy. These included the battles over the Monte Cassino monastery¹¹ between Rome and Naples and the invasions of Salerno and Anzio. At Anzio, in January of nineteen forty-four, the pilots of the Ninety-Ninth squadron shot down eighteen enemy airplanes. Their performance earned them two awards. And, their record led the Army Air Forces to decide to use more black pilots in the war.

VOICE TWO:

In September, nineteen forty-three, Colonel Davis became commander of the Three Hundred Thirty-Second Fighter Group. The Ninety-Ninth squadron became a part of the group. There were four hundred fifty pilots in the all-black group. They flew more than fifteen thousand five hundred flights in southern France, Greece, the Balkans and finally in Germany.

The Tuskegee airmen guarded bomber airplanes. They destroyed more than one hundred enemy airplanes in the air and one hundred fifty others on the ground. They flew more than two hundred combat flights in Germany in nineteen forty-five.

Not one Allied¹² bomber fell to enemy fighters when guarded by the Tuskegee airmen. They were considered the best at their job.

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VOICE ONE:

Nine hundred ninety-six black pilots were trained at Tuskegee Airfield¹³ before World War Two ended. For black Americans during World War Two, the Tuskegee airmen represented both honor and inequality. Eighty-five of them won the Distinguished Flying Cross during the war. Yet their separation from white troops was a powerful sign of the racial policies of the military.

History books say the Tuskegee airman proved that black men could fly modern airplanes in highly successful combat operations. And, the success of the group helped end the separate racial policies of the American military. In nineteen forty-eight, President Truman ordered the armed forces to provide equal treatment for black servicemen. The next year, the Air Force, which no longer was part of the Army, announced that black and white airmen no longer would be separated.

Back in civilian life, many of the Tuskegee airmen became lawyers, doctors, judges, congressmen and mayors. Their fighting spirit had helped them survive battles and unequal treatment. At home, their continued fighting spirit helped lead the way to civil rights progress in the United States.

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VOICE TWO:

This Special English program was written by Vivian Bournazian. This is Shirley Griffith.

VOICE ONE:

And this is Steve Ember. Join us again next week at this time for another EXPLORATIONS program on the Voice of America.

1 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

2 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

3 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

5 penetrate   

v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解

参考例句：

• Western ideas penetrate slowly through the East.西方观念逐渐传入东方。
• The sunshine could not penetrate where the trees were thickest.阳光不能透入树木最浓密的地方。

6 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

7 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

8 advancement   

n.前进，促进，提升

参考例句：

• His new contribution to the advancement of physiology was well appreciated.他对生理学发展的新贡献获得高度赞赏。
• The aim of a university should be the advancement of learning.大学的目标应是促进学术。

9 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

10 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

11 monastery   

n.修道院，僧院，寺院

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• She was appointed the superior of the monastery two years ago.两年前她被任命为这个修道院的院长。

12 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

13 airfield   

n.飞机场

参考例句：

• The foreign guests were motored from the airfield to the hotel.用车把外宾从机场送到旅馆。
• The airfield was seized by enemy troops.机场被敌军占领。