More Than 200 Tuskegee Airmen Accept Inauguration Invite

More Than 200 Tuskegee Airmen Accept Inauguration Invite
By Katharine Q. Seelye

About 225 of the Tuskegee airmen have accepted an invitation to go to Washington for Barack Obama’s inauguration, but it is not clear if all will actually make it.
Some of the 225 have accepted on a “conditional” basis — they are waiting to see what kind of arrangements can be made for their transportation and lodging as well as ground logistics in Washington.

Friday was the deadline for the airmen to respond to the invitation, which was extended Dec. 9 by Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California and head of the congressional inaugural committee, through Tuskegee Airmen Inc. (T.A.I.). That’s the support association that represents the elite corps of black pilots and ground crew who fought for the United States during World War II despite the country’s active racial discrimination against them.

Each airman would get two tickets to Mr. Obama’s swearing-in ceremony. So that could mean a total of 450 coveted tickets — and coveted seats.

-snip-
“I gave the committee a tentative list of 225 with the understanding that we’re still scrubbing it,” Mr. Rose told us.
While the invitation was extended through T.A.I., it was extended to all original Tuskegee airmen, not just those who are members of the association. There were originally 16,000 pilots and ground crew who were based in Tuskegee, Alabama, between 1942 and 1946.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/22/225-tuskegee-airmen-accept-inauguration-invite/

Some of those men are impoverished. It would be great if they could be assured of someplace to stay, and if their costs could be defrayed.

excited. I love seeing the young people so motivated.