Phoenixville High School to Host Tuskegee Airmen

Editor's Note: The following was submitted on behalf of Phoenixville Area School Distirct.

On Tuesday, Feb. 28, students at Phoenixville Area High School will have a rare visit from three original Tuskegee Airmen. 

The group will be part of a nationwide webinar honoring the Tuskegee Airmen from across the country. Phoenixville Area High School is one of only eight schools in the entire country chosen to host this day-long event. 

The three airmen, Aaron Watkins, Major John Harrison and Roscoe Draper will share details of their experiences fighting American prejudice as well as Nazi militarism. All  tenth-grade students as well as those enrolled in the African American Studies Class and AP European American History will be participating. In addition, veterans from around the area have been invited to join the group.

The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African American pilots in the U.S. Army Air Corps, fighting in World War II. The name came from the training base in Tuskegee, Alabama, which was opened to train these pilots. The current movie “Red Tails” is based on the legend of the 332nd Fighter Group—a compilation of four all-African American squadrons.

The name came from the bright red spinners and tails they used to decorate their planes. Although many doubted these men were even capable of flying airplanes, their daring escapades proved all of the skeptics wrong.

The webinar will begin at 9 a.m. and conclude at 1:55 p.m. with the playing of Taps. The panel of speakers will begin at 9:15 a.m. The three Phoenixville Red Tails will speak at 9:51 a.m. (Aaron Watkins, second generation Tuskegee Airman), 12:08 p.m. (Major John Harrison) and at 12:36 p.m. (Rose Draper, 92 years of age). 

 Phoenixville Area High School is very proud to be a site for this historic event.