10
FEBRUARY2016
AMERICANWAY
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Freedom
ToFly
PERSPECTIVE
E
versinceIcanremember, I’ve
beensurroundedbyairplanes.
Atage5, Iwasfixingwings
and fuselageson toymodels,
andWorldWarIIairplane
postersadornedmyroom.My father
tookme to theFranklinInstituteScience
Museum inPhiladelphia,whereIgot tosit
in thecockpitofaP-51.
My father,EugeneRichardsonII,
watchedmeclosely.Evenat thatyoung
age, Iknewheflewoneof thesevery
airplanes inWorldWarIIasaTuskegee
Airman.Named for the locationwhere
theyattendedschoolbeforeflight train-
ing, theTuskegeeAirmenwere thefirst
African-Americansallowed tofly for the
U.S.military.
In1967,my father tookme to the
World’sFair inTorontoandIhadmyfirst
chanceat thecontrolsduringa$15 lesson.
WhenI landed, thepilot toldmy father,
“He’sanaturalat this.”Iknew thiswas
whatIwanted todo.
My fatherreturned fromWorldWarII
toanationstillunder thegripofJimCrow
laws.Hecouldn’tbecomeacommercial
pilotflyingwhitecustomers. Instead,
hegraduated fromcollegeandbecamea
teacher.Hehelped found theTuskegee
AirmenInternationalgroup,orTAI, to
stayconnectedwithhis fellowairmen.At
age90,hestill retains thesebonds.
Historyfinallycaughtupwith the
accomplishmentsof theTuskegeeAirmen.
When itwasmy turn tofly, all thebarriers
hadbeenremovedbymen likemy father.
Iearnedmywings in theMarineCorps,
serving10yearsasapilot-instructorand
another10 in thereserves, rising to the
rankofLt.Colonel. In1986,American
hiredmeasaflightengineer.Theairline
wasexpanding then, andImadecaptain
by1991.
I’veflownbesidemy father incockpits
many times, includingduringaBoeing777
deliveryflightImadeasafleetmanager
forAmerican.ButI’llnever forget thebest
momentofall, ataTAI lecture. Iwason
thestagewithmy fatherwhenanelderly
gentlemanstoodup, telling thecrowd
thathewasaB-17bomberpilotwhohad
beenescortedby theTuskegeeAirmen. I
couldn’tbemoreproud, standingnext to
my father,wearingmypilot’suniformwith
a lifetimeofprofessionalflyingaheadof
me.Men likehim forged thepath forour
military,ourcountryand formepersonal-
lyasacommercialaviationpilot.And the
elderlygentleman’ssimplewordssummed
itupperfectly: “thankyou.”
Onbehalfofmyselfand the100,000
employeesatAmericanAirlines, Isecond
thosepowerfulwords.
EUGENERICHARDSON
DFW-based captain
When I landed, the
pilot toldmy father,
“He’sanatural at this.”
Iknew thiswaswhat
Iwanted todo.
