"The white boys went in at 18; we couldn't come in unless you had a college degree." (9:29)

Quentin Smith

War: World War II, 1939-1946 Branch: Army Air Forces/Corps Unit: 477 Composite Group Service Location: Tuskegee, Alabama; Seymour, Indiana Rank: First Lieutenant Place of Birth: Weldon, TX

For Quentin Smith, World War II was a series of delayed actions. He enlisted hoping to become a flight instructor and he did land in the newly formed company of black airman in Tuskegee, Alabama. But the wheels of bureaucracy moved slowly, with officials insisting that ready-to-fly pilots had to wait until other members of the crew were trained, claiming that no white navigator or gunner would take orders from a black pilot. It took a visit from First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to get the Army Air Force to ship the Tuskegee Airmen to Europe, where they compiled an enviable record.