Lt Col Harry Stewart Jr.

arry was born in Newport News, Virginia, and moved with his family to Queens when he was a toddler. Living near an airport his house was placed under the flight path of the aircraft coming and going. While living at his home he was always fascinated by the pilots that flew overhead and always dreamed of flying for airlines. But when war called, at 17, Harry enlisted up for war service. He was called up soon after his enlistment after turning 18 and passed the exams to qualify to become a pilot. After the exams he shortly headed off to the Tuskegee Army Air Field for flight training. Having a passion for flying he was destined to learn to fly before he even learned to drive. After his time at Tuskegee, he completed combat and fighter training at Walterboro Army Air Field in South Carolina before being sent to Italy with the (Red Tails) 301st Fighter Squadron of the 332nd Fighter Group in 1944. Which was the only all African American squadron that saw combat during World War ll. Lt. Col Harry Stewart flew 43 combat missions during the war and is heavily acclaimed for being one of the only four Tuskegee Airmen with three aerial victories in one day. On that day April 1 ,1945 Harry took down three German Focke-Wulf 190s. The feat took place while on a mission to escort and provide cover for B-24 bombers over Linz, Austria. For the achievement, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and earned a place in US history. After the war, Lt Col Harry Stewart was a part of the team from the 332nd Fighter Group that won the first-ever USAF fighter gunnery competition in 1949. The competition was a grueling 10-day event held at what is now Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada for all military fighter groups. Despite flying obsolete single-engine P-47 aircraft for the event, they led from the start and won in the conventional aircraft division. Harry was honorably discharged from active duty in 1950, serving as a Reservist for many more years. Eventually retiring with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He resumed his education and earned a degree in mechanical engineering from New York University in 1963 where he served as the present of the student council and chair of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He went on to have a successful civilian career, retiring as Vice President of the ANR Pipeline Company in Detroit, Michigan. Outside of work, Stewart’s passion for aviation kept him in the air and he continued to fly, even earning his commercial glider pilot license at the age of 81. Today Lt. Colonel Harry Stewart resides at his home in Michigan never forgetting how important his country to him.