Service for victory

While sorting through a cardboard box filled with photos and mementos, memories rush to Marion West’s mind.

The Mote Ranch resident pulls out a program from the 2007 Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony and unwraps a miniature plane. It’s a replica of the P-51 planes the Tuskegee Airmen flew during World War II. The cream-colored plane is complete with the bright red tail that inspired the planes’ nickname, the “Red Tails.”

“It was during my senior year in 1941 and ’42 that the war broke out, and I knew that I was going to go into the Army, but I was preparing myself because I wanted to go to medical school,” said West.

In 1941, West was a senior in high school in Owensboro, Ky. He had considered the idea of enlisting in the military at some point, but after the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7 West knew his destiny. The timing coincided with a new Army initiative to train civilian radio technicians. After completing the program, West joined the 1000th Signal Company of the 332nd Fighter Group, an all-black group. West specialized in radioteletype communications that would aid pilots in the air.

West showed an interest in becoming a pilot while training in Tuskegee, Ala. He passed the written and physical tests necessary to start training. The final step required written permission from an officer, but due to an influx of applications and an immediate need to deploy the group to Italy, there was a hold on promoting pilots. West remained in his role in radio communications in the 96th Service Group for the Tuskegee Airmen, whose motto was “Service for Victory.”

“Flying was not necessarily my first choice, but I was going to try because it seemed promising at the time and I was willing to do it,” West said. “Later on I was happy that I didn’t because a lot of those guys didn’t make it. At the training we lost pilots, and certainly we lost them once we went overseas in combat.”

In 1943, West and the Tuskegee Airmen were deployed to Ramitelli, Italy. The role of the Tuskegee Airmen was to escort and protect American bombers from enemy aircrafts by flying a convoy of P-51 planes around bombers between missions in Germany. In more than 300 missions, the only bombers who were shot down were taken down by fire from the ground — none from enemy aircraft.

Following the war there was no formal recognition of the accomplishments of the airmen and little was known publicly of the role they played in the war. When West returned home in 1945 to the United States, it was not to a hero’s welcome but a harsh reality of returning to a racially segregated country.

He quickly resumed civilian life and used the G.I. Bill to earn his bachelor’s in chemistry from Fisk University and his doctorate in dentistry from Meharry Medical College in 1954. West began a practice in general dentistry in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he met his wife, Gwen.

In 2007, President George W. Bush recognized the 300 living Tuskegee Airmen with a joint Congressional Gold Medal for their service in World War II. A replica of the medal that was given is subtly on display in a navy, velvet box in the family’s home.

“I feel very proud,” Gwen West said. “It’s important for people to know the history and legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen.”

We meet again, old friend
While training to join the 1000th Signal Company of the 332nd Fighter Group, Marion West met Leon Neal, who was also in the program in Kentucky. The two ended up together in Tuskegee, Ala., and then deployed to Italy together, as well. After the war ended, the two went their separate ways with no communication for more than 50 years. In 2001, West joined the Tuskegee Airmen Inc., a nationwide, nonprofit organization with local chapters. While attending an event for the Chappie Jones Chapter, West and Neal were sitting next to each other and didn’t even know it.

“We were separated by our wives, and he didn’t notice me and I didn’t notice him until we went out into the lobby,” West said. “We had planned to spend more time together but unfortunately he passed away a few months after.”