$" \" - \""$ " - "

Show article text (OCR)

Kalyn Brantley-McNeal and her 13-year-old son, Joseph McNeal, looking at a picture Sunday of Brantley-McNeaPs father, the late Major Charles V. Brantley, in an exhibit at the St. Louis Science Center that honors area black aviators. Uiefa UOnQTSn Exhibit Stars Black Aviators By Patricia Corrigan v Of the Post-Dispatch Staff . Pride and sorrow showing on her face, Kalyn Brantley-McNeal leaned in close to touch the photo of her father. . "I'm one of his three children," she said softly. "This is a step. It's nice they have this here. I'm very proud. My father and these other gentlemen here helped integrate the armed services." The late Major Charles V. Brantley, Brantley-McNeal's father, is one of several St. Louisans honored in a new photo exhibit of African-American aviators on display at the St. Louis Science Center, 5050 Oakland Avenue. ', A reception was held Sunday evening to honor I those aviators and their families. About 80 people ; attended, said a Science Center spokeswoman. ; During World War II, about 1,000 black aviators ' were trained in Tuskegee, Ala., in a project known J as 'the Tuskegee Experiment. The men were the ; first black fighter pilots to serve in the U.S. Army ' Air Force, and they saw action in North Africa, Sicily, and Europe. They flew 15,553 sorties, completed 1,578 missions and were decorated repeatedly for their heroism. Records show they never lost a bomber under their protection. Seven Tuskegee airmen and pilots, all native St. Louisans, attended the reception: Carl Carey, Charlie Haynes, Lewis Lynch, Stacey Murray, Christopher Newman, John Squires and Isaac Wilford. "This tale needed to be told," said Carey, who now lives in Detroit. "We played a role, and we are proud to have served." Lt. Col. John Miller, stationed at Scott Air Force Base, said that before the Tuskegee Airmen took to the skies, the common perception was that blacks couldn't fly planes, that they didn't have the intellect or the courage. "They shattered that perception," Miller said. Clara White, president of the St. Louis Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen, said, "The Tuskegee Airmen are our heroes. They had to fight two wars one was with the enemy and one was with segregation." White's husband, the late Captain Hugh J. White, was one of the aviators. She said the United States had 47 chapters of Tuskegee Airmen. Each chapter works with schools and Scout troops, White said, encouraging students to stay in school and strive for personal success. The local chapter has 28 members. In addition to the seven St. Louis airmen who attended the reception, St. Louis pilots listed in the photo exhibit include Brantley, Clarence Bradford, Everett Bratcher, John Briggs, Page Dickerson, Otis Finley, Victor Hancock, William Holloman, James Knighten, Charles Layne, James McCullen, Theopo-lis Moore, Henry Peoples, Wendall Pruitt, Victor Reef, Clarence Shivers, Norvell Stoudmire, Charles White and Hugh White. Airmen from St. Louis in the exhibit include Warren Harper, Milton Lemmons, John Moton and John Ware. "This display will be here for many years," said Dennis M. Wint, president of the Science Center.