Charles E. McGee

Charles Edward McGee was born on the seventh of December 1919 in Cleveland, Ohio, a son of the Reverend Lewis Allen McGee — an African Methodist Episcopal minister who also served as a teacher, social worker, and U.S. Army chaplain, and who in later years became a Unitarian minister — and Ruth Lewis McGee. Raised across the moves of a minister's family, the young McGee grew into a disciplined, devout, and steady man who would carry those virtues into the sky.

In 1942 he answered the call of the Tuskegee experiment, earning his wings among the first Black military aviators in American history. By February 1944 he was flying with the 302nd Fighter Squadron of the famed 332nd Fighter Group over Italy, escorting bombers deep into hostile skies. Across the Second World War he flew 137 combat missions, part of a career that would ultimately span three wars.

When Korea came, McGee flew P-51 Mustangs with the 67th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, completing 100 missions; in Vietnam he commanded the 16th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron and flew 172 missions in the RF-4. His 409 combat missions across World War II, Korea, and Vietnam stand among the highest totals of any pilot in United States Air Force history. He retired as a colonel in 1973 with more than 6,300 flying hours.

In his long years afterward he became a living witness to the Tuskegee legacy, receiving the Congressional Gold Medal, induction into the National Aviation Hall of Fame, and, in 2020, promotion to brigadier general. He died on the sixteenth of January 2022, aged 102. May the honored name of Charles E. McGee fly on wherever courage and dignity are remembered.