Tuskegee Airmen

Some Tuskegee Airmen statistics: More than 989 missions of the 99th, 100th, 301st, and 302nd Fighter Squadrons for the Twelfth Air Force; 500 missions of the 99th Fighter Squadron by early June 1944; at least 311 missions of the 332d Fighter Group for the Fifteenth Air Force (June 1944-May 1945); 179 bomber escort missions of the 332d Fighter Group for the Fifteenth Air Force; 172 heavy bomber escort missions of the 332d Fighter Group for the Fifteenth Air Force; 112 aerial victories of the 99th Fighter Squadron and the 332d Fighter Group combined during World War II; 96 Distinguished Flying Crosses awarded to members of the 332d Fighter Group or its squadrons by the Fifteenth Air Force; 94 aerial victories of the 332d Fighter Group for the Fifteenth Air Force between June 1944 and the end of April 1945; 61 was the number of missions under the Fifteenth Air Force for which the 332d Fighter Group reported one or more of its own aircraft lost or missing; 46 was the average number of bombers shot down by enemy aircraft for each of the other six fighter groups of the Fifteenth Air Force; 35 was the number of missions in which the 332d Fighter Group reported enemy aircraft encounters; 27 was the number of bombers shot down by enemy aircraft when those bombers were in groups the 332d Fighter Group was assigned to escort; 25 was the number of 332d Fighter Group missions for the Fifteenth Air Force on which its members reported seeing bombers go down (some of these were bombers not assigned to the 332d Fighter Group to escort); 21 was the number of additional missions in which the 332d Fighter Group reported seeing enemy aircraft but reported no encounters with them; 21 was the number of 332d Fighter Group missions for the Fifteenth Air Force in which Tuskegee Airmen shot down enemy aircraft; 18 was the number of aerial victories earned by the 99th Fighter Squadron before it joined the 332d Fighter Group; 7 was the number of bomber escort missions of the 332d Fighter Group for the Fifteenth Air Force on which bombers under escort were lost to enemy aircraft; 4 was the highest number of aerial victory credits scored by a Tuskegee Airman, but three Tuskegee Airmen earned that number of aerial victories (Lee Archer, Joseph Elsberry, and Edward Toppins); 4 was the number of types of aircraft the Tuskegee Airmen flew in combat (P-40s, P-39s, P-47s, and P-51s); 4 was the number of Tuskegee Airmen who each earned 3 aerial victory credits in one day (Joseph Elsberry, Clarence Lester, Lee Archer, and Harry Stewart); 3 was the number of German jets shot down by the Tuskegee Airmen; 3 was the number of Distinguished Unit Citations earned by Tuskegee Airmen organizations (99th Fighter Squadron earned two before it was assigned to the 332d Fighter Group, and the 332d Fighter Group earned one after the 99th Fighter Squadron was assigned to it).