Charles B. Smith--99th Fighter Squadron (Tuskegee Airmen)

Born in Westmoreland County, Charles Bernard Smith (1917–1991) is one of more than 140,000 African Americans who served in the racially segregated U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. Trained at Chanute Field, Illinois, in aircraft ground support with the 99th Fighter Squadron, the famed “Tuskegee Airmen,” he served in North Africa and Europe as technical sergeant and crew chief. In more than 200 missions as bomber escorts, the Tuskegee Airmen never lost a bomber to enemy fire, and they received three Presidential Unit Citations. Their outstanding service contributed to the integration of America's armed forces by President Harry S Truman in 1948.

Department of Historic Resources, 2005