Roger Terry | |
---|---|
Born | August 13, 1921 [1] |
Died | June 11, 2009 West Los Angeles |
Allegiance | United States of America |
Service/ | United States Army Air Corps |
Rank | Lieutenant |
Unit | 332nd Fighter Group |
Awards | Congressional Gold Medal |
Lt. Roger "Bill" Terry (August 13, 1921 – June 11, 2009) was one of the Tuskegee Airmen. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II. In 1945 he was stationed at Freeman Field, Indiana, where he was excluded from the "whites only" officers club, PX and theatre, which German POWs were allowed to attend.[2] He was the only individual to be discharged following the Freeman Field Mutiny.
Lieutenant Terry was acquitted of the charge of disobeying an order, but was convicted of the charge of jostling Lieutenant Rogers, for which he was fined $150, payable in three monthly installments, suffered loss of rank and received a dishonorable discharge.
In 1995, in response to requests from some of the veterans of the 477th, the Air Force officially removed General Hunter's letters of reprimand from the permanent files of 15 of the 104 officers charged in the Freeman Field protest and promised to remove the remaining 89 letters when requests were filed. Roger Terry received a full pardon, restoration of rank and a refund of his fine.
Awards
- Congressional Gold Medal (2007)[3]
Death
Terry died of heart failure on June 11, 2009. He was 87.[4]
See also
- Dogfights (TV series)
- Executive Order 9981
- Freeman Field Mutiny
- List of Tuskegee Airmen
- Military history of African Americans
- The Tuskegee Airmen (movie)
- Tuskegee Airmen
References
- ^ The History of Jim Crow: Eyewitness to Jim Crow: Roger "Bill" Terry Remembers Archived 2005-10-27 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Thu, March 15, 2007 "Sixty years later, Congress honors Tuskegee Airmen" By William Douglas - McClatchy Newspapers
- ^ Kruzel, John J. "President, Congress Honor Tuskegee Airmen". Army. U.S. Army. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
- ^ Tuskegee Airman Roger Terry dies
External links
- Fly (2009 play about the 332d Fighter Group)
- Tuskegee Airmen at Tuskegee University
- Tuskegee Airmen Archives at the University of California, Riverside Libraries.
- Tuskegee Airmen, Inc.
- Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)
- Tuskegee Airmen National Museum