Charles McGee, a member of the Tuskegee Airman squad, died at age 102 on Sunday in Maryland. He was also known to be a flagbearer in getting attention diverted towards Black pilots who had battled racism at home to fight for freedom abroad.

Who was Charles McGee?

Charles McGee graduated from flight school in June 1943 and joined the all-Black 332nd Fighter Group– known as the Red Tails–  about a year later. He flew 136 missions as the group accompanied bombers over Europe.

McGee remained in the Army Air Corps, later the United States Air Force, and served for three decades. He flew low-level bombing and strafing missions during the Korean War and returned to the field again during the Vietnam War.

The National Aviation Hall of Fame says his 409 aerial fighter combat missions in three wars remain a record, according to reports from Associated Press.

He retired as a colonel in the Air Force in 1973, then earned a college degree in business administration and worked as a business executive. He was accorded an honorary commission promoting him to the one-star rank of brigadier general as he turned 100.

His private jet flight between Maryland’s Frederick and the famed Dover Air Force Base in Delaware was another highlight of his life in the forces.

Former United States President Donald Trump introduced the Tuskegee Airman in his State of the Union address in 2020, a move that garnered appreciation for McGee from the United States Congress. 

Ron McGee, the son of Tuskegee Airman, announced that McGee died in his sleep at his home in Maryland’s Bethesda.