Edward C. Gleed

Edward Creston Gleed was born on the fifth of November 1916 in Lawrence, Kansas, a son of Herbert Joseph Gleed Sr. and Carrie Syphax Joseph Gleed. Raised in Lawrence, he graduated from the University of Kansas and pursued the study of law at Howard University before the call of aviation drew him toward a destiny few Black Americans of his generation were permitted to seek.

In February 1941 Gleed enlisted with the storied 9th Cavalry Regiment, and the following year he was directed to Tuskegee, Alabama, entering the aviation cadet program. On the thirteenth of December 1942 he earned his wings and a commission as second lieutenant with Class SE-42-K. Assigned to the 332nd Fighter Group, he rose to serve as its operations officer and as commander of the 301st Fighter Squadron, flying his famed P-51D Mustang, "The Creamer's Dream."

Over the skies of the Mediterranean and Europe, Gleed proved himself in combat. On the twenty-seventh of July 1944, during a mission near Budapest, he downed two enemy aircraft, an act of valor for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. He would go on to serve across three wars — the Second World War, Korea, and Vietnam — logging nearly six thousand flying hours before retiring as a full colonel in 1970.

His striving did not cease with the uniform: in 1976, at the age of sixty, he earned his law degree from Southwestern University School of Law. Edward Creston Gleed passed on the twenty-fifth of January 1990. He is honored as one of the Tuskegee Airmen who broke the sky's color line and carried his people's dignity aloft on wings of courage.