by KYW's Hadas Kuznits
As part of Central High School's celebration of Black History Month, a group of America's first black military pilots spoke to students there on Friday.
Members of the Tuskegee Airmen discussed their struggles to get an equal opportunity to fly, and explained how chasing their dreams helped push the country towards desegregation.
Eugene Richardson, one of the original Tuskegee Airmen, says during World War II Tuskegee was the only place in the country for black pilots to train.
He says the base was set up as an experiment, and many expected them to fail:
"And we were able to set records in the military: 450 of our guys flew combat in Europe. We shot down 111 enemy aircraft. We escorted bombers for over a year, 200 missions."
Richardson (in file photo above) says proving that black pilots were just as good as anyone else was a long struggle, but their passion to fly forced them to perservere:
"If you have a dream and you're willing to work, you can make your dream come true. But first of all you have to have a dream. You have to want to be somebody or accomplish something, and then be willing to do the work to make your dreams come true."
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