1992_02 Insight February 1992

              pwpii^'pg.^ u, mn^mmmi^mm
Pilot inspires new generation
WWII becomes personal with Tuskegee airman
By Calvin Paschal	
StaffWriter
The headlines read "Negro
Pilots Sink War Planes/ "Fliers Help Smash Nazis,'* "Fliers
Down 25 Planes In Two Days."
It was World Warn.
The headlines were giving
praise to the Tuskegee Airmen,
the first African-American fighter
pilot squadron that flew during
World Warn.
Retired Lt. Col. Charles H.
Drummond Jr., veteran of three
wars, was one of those pilots
trained at the Tuskegee Institute.
Drummond, a member of the
Tuskegee Airmen, San Francisco
Chapter, visited CSUF Feb. 11 and
12 to take part in celebrating African People's History Month by
displaying the Tuskegee Airmen
Traveling Museum.
Originally from Boston,
Drummond, a husband and father
of six children, now residing in
Carmel, Calif, enlightened quite a
few people with the Tuskegee Airmen Traveling Museum. Many
people did not know that African-
Americans were allowed to pilot
planes during that time.
Drummond said there are many
white people and young Arrican-
Americans that question him about
the war and when he began his
military career.
"I was the youngest 2nd Lt. in
the infantry, at age 18, to graduate
from Officer Candidate School at
Fort Benning," Drummond said,
as he took a bite from a Hershey
bar. He said he was transferred to
the Tank Destroyer Branch for almost a year.
"I didn't really like it. I had to
find a way out," Drummond said.
His "way our" came when the
Air Force sent telegrams to differ?
ent bases inviting African-Ameri
cans to become pilots.
1 just wanted to get out of the
Tank Destroyer Division,'' he said,
as he picked up a book and began
thumbing through iL
After he applied, he was required to go to Texas for a flight
physical and then to North Carolina for a psychological profile.
After his passing his exams, they
were sent to Tuskegee, Ala. for
pilot training.
"I had only seen two or three
planes," Drummond said. "I
didn't know one end from the
.orps ci
their wings, they were given a
chance to choose between fighter
pilots or bomber pilots. Most chose
fighter pilots.
The first contingent of the 99th
Pursuit Squadron was a group of
enlisted technicians and adminis-
trati vespecialists. They established
a grade point average as a group,
never equalled before or after training.
The pilots flew over North Africa, Sicily, Italy, Southern France
and other parts of Europe. They
"I had only seen two or three planes. I
didn't know one end from the other."
—Charles H. Drummond.
other." He smiled as he pointed
to a young picture of himself in
uniform in the book. "That's me
and the rest of my buddies."
Tuskegee Institute Airbase
housed only the African-American pilots, but they were commanded by white officers.
During those years,
Drummond said, everything was
still segregated, even the armed
forces. "We had to face the problem of being segregated. It wasn't
as bad as we thought it would
be," he said, and added, "we had
the same kind of training as the
white pilots."
Approxima tely 993 pilots were
trained at the Tuskegee Institute
between 1942 and 1946.
Drummond graduated from
Tuskegee in 1944.
The graduated group became
the 99th Pursuit Fighter Squadron in the 332nd Fighter Group.
Originally the pilots were
trained as bomber pilots, bi^t 18
months after   the  first class of
flew P-39s, P-40s, P-47s, P-51s and
B-25s. The pilots completed 1,578
combat missions and flew over
15,000 sorties.
As Drummond tookanotherbite
of his Hershey bar he said, "I was
always scared, all the time in combat Anyone who says they aren't
scared is crazy. Oneof my buddies,
2nd Lt. Paul Bonseigneur, never
could drive a car, but he could fly
the hell out of B-25s," Drummond
said. "We just did what we had to
do."
The 332nd were called
"Schwarze Vogelmenchen" (Black
Birdmen)bytheGerrrianLuftwaffe.
American bombers called, them
"Red Tails" because of the identifying brightly painted red-tail assemblies. The 99th Pursuit Squadron never lost a single bomber under its escort cover.
Drummond flew fighters in the
Korean War and the Vietnam War.
During the Vietnam War, he activated and commanded the 223rd
'AviatlbrrBaitairoh/a'cornbat sup-
years of service. "I enjoyed being
in the service," he said. "My family got the chance to travel all
around the world."
"We have six children, and two
were bom in Germany. One of my
sons began school in Germany and
by the time he was ready to graduate from high school, we had come
full circle back to the same school
where he started," he said as he
laughed. "He hadn't been there
since the first grade."
Drummond said they spent a
lot of time in France through his
career and he found out how to tell
the difference between the Germans and the French.
"You can tell the difference by
the way they farm. The Germans
farm from sunup to sundown. The
French get up around nine in the
morning, start farming around
eleven and quit by three." He
laughed with a twinkle in his eyes.
Drummond said that after he
retired he bought a flying service
and flew food service for the government He soon gave that up
because he became ill from a
wound he got during the Vietnam
War. He now owns both an appliance store and book store.
"I enjoyed flying the fighter
planes and bombers back in World
War II," Drummond said. "But
my next project is to write a book."
Thanks to women and men like
retired Lt. Col. Charles H.
Drummond Jr., African-Americans can face the future proudly.
Dr. Carter G. Woodson, father of
Negro History Week, said, "If a
race has no history, if it has no
worthwhile tradition, it becomesa
negligible factor in the thought of
the world, and it stands in danger
of being exterminated."
Program prei
minorities for F
ByHui-SmTeoh
Staff Writer	
f inorities often find tt dif
. ncult to imagine themselves doctors, dentists and
scientists because they seldom
sec other minorities holding
MS
suchpoaitions.
'Tney don'talways envision
themselves being health professionals or scientists because
they don't see many of those
role models," said Francisco
Pirieda,directoroftheScience/
Health Career Opportunity
said minority students usually don't take science and math subjects in high
school to prepare them for
CSUFand ultimately for health
professional schools.
SCOPjprevtousry called the
Health Career Opportunity
Program, was designed to increase the number of qualified
minoritiesaccepted into health
professional schools and
graduate programs.
SCOPisexpandingthisycar
to include more of the Ph.D.
science career aspirations and
teacher science preparation.
Under the School of Natural
Sciences, SCOP assists minori-
tiesin their transition from high
school or community college
into CSUF.
Minority students already in
CSUF are provided with support and activities to help them
complete their undergraduate
education for graduate or Ph.D
level sciences and health professional school programs.
SCOP aims to motivate students and let them know that
careers in health and science
   •      -
are possible and realistic.
"it is something they can
reach out to. They have the potential and the ability — Vs
just that they don't believe in
thOfTMplvM" Ptnari*
to come to CSUF to
petfoiin sritBon
does outreach by having conferences and workshops and
by providing students information about how to get into
CSUF.
Quintero said that once the
students are in CSUF, SCOP
provides information about
entering medical schools.
"My peer adviser goes
through my schedule to make
sure that I'm on dw right track.
I see alumni students who are
already in health professions
and this really keeps me motivated," said Quintero.
Former CSUF zoology major, WniiamBachachi, who is
nowa dentist, said SCOP was
available for him to make contacts. It also provided channels
and insight fnto his career as a
rtcalthprofessional.
SCOP is a cooperative effort between CSUF and the
University of California, San
Francisco Medical Education Program. It was established in 1981 with one student.
Within 10 years, the number of students accepted has
increased to a tout of 50. In
1991 alone, 11 out of 12 students in SCOP were accepted into health professional schools.
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