MONTICELLO, MS (AP) -
Former Tuskegee Airman Johnny C. Whitfield of Monticello was to be presented Friday with the Congressional Gold Medal.
U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper, R-Miss., was to make the presentation during an event at the Lawrence County Courthouse.
The elite medal has been
given selectively since 1776, when George Washington was awarded the
first. Other honorees include the Wright Brothers, Thomas Edison, Rosa
Parks and the Dalai Lama. The Tuskegee Airmen, the first group of black
fighter pilots, received the medal in 2007.
Whitfield was a senior master sergeant with the Tuskegee Airmen.
Almost 1,000 pilots trained
as a segregated Army Air Corps unit in Tuskegee, Ala., during World War
II. The Tuskegee Airmen were known as the "Red Tails" for the color of
the tails of their fighters.
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