Under Friday's gray winter skies, Nevada's Air National Guard Community Outreach Program sponsored a “meet and greet” in Reno with three members of the Tuskegee Airmen, a storied group of black aviators whose World War II exploits are the subject of a newly released George Lucas film.

The Guard's auditorium was packed as Senior Master Sgt. Torry Thompson introduced Retired Tech. Sgt. Boyd Taylor, Retired Chief Master Sgt. Lenard Yates and Retired Senior Master Sgt. George Porter and their family members.

The genesis of the group came on April 3, 1939, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an order establishing a civilian flight school for black Americans at the Tuskegee Institute. In March 1941, first lady Eleanor Roosevelt visited Tuskegee Institute's flight school. C. Alfred “Chief” Anderson flew the first lady in a WACO biplane for about a half hour.

In World War II, the first Tuskegee Airmen flew missions in the North African, Sicilian, and Italian campaigns. At Ramitelli Airfield in Termoli, Italy, they painted the tails of their P-47s red to be easily identified by American bomber pilots — and by the enemy, German Luftwaffe pilots. In July 1944, when the 332nd Fighter Group received P-51 Mustangs, the tails were painted red, too.

Early in 1944, Mustangs began escorting bombers to, over, and from their German targets. Hundreds of American bomber crews came home from the war to become fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers, thanks to the escorting Mustangs with or without Red Tails.

Before every escorting mission, each squadron of Tuskegee pilots gathered in a circle to pray. Similar to a football team before a game, they shouted, “To the last bullet, to the last man, WE FIGHT, WE FIGHT, WE FIGHT.”

During their bomber escort missions, the Tuskegee pilots flew into dogfights with Luftwaffe pilots with the words “We fight” were still ringing in their ears.

When Red Tails attacked German targets, they got rid of a lot of ordnance. Honing their flying skills, they shot down 112 enemy aircraft and destroyed 273 aircraft on the ground, 950 railroad cars, 40 barges and boats and even a German destroyer. These red knights of the skies made the Luftwaffe pay the price for starting WWII, as they helped to achieve VE Day, commemorating victory in Europe. Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945.

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