THE NATIONAL Aeronautic Association (NAA) has selected the Tuskegee Airmen as the recipient of its 2021 Clifford Henderson Trophy. The Henderson Trophy was established in 1960 to honor the creator and managing director of the world-renowned National Air Races from 1928 to 1939. The trophy is awarded to "a living individual, group of individuals, or an organization whose vision, leadership or skill made a significant and lasting contribution to the promotion and advancement of aviation and aerospace in the United States." The Tuskegee Airmen were the first Black military aviators in the U.S. Army Air Corps (predecessor to the U.S. Air Force). In 1941, with the start of World War Ⅱ imminent, it was decided to offer training to African Americans as pilots, mechanics, and support staff. The air base in Tuskegee, Alabama, became the center of the training program for more than 14,000 Black air personnel. Collectively, the airmen flew more than 15,000 individual sorties throughout the war, earning 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses, and encouraging the eventual integration of the U.S. armed forces in 1948.
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