Decorated Tuskegee Airman combat pilot Harry Stewart Jr. dies at 100
Decorated Tuskegee Airman combat pilot Harry Stewart Jr. dies at 100
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Tuskegee Airmen: Learn about America's first Black Military pilots
Lucasfilm's new #FlyLikeThem initiative is aimed at educating a younger generation about the World War II contributions of the Tuskegee Airmen.
USA TODAY Handout
DETROIT — Retired Lt. Col. Harry Stewart Jr., a decorated combat pilot of World War II's mostly Black 332nd Fighter Group, commonly known as the Tuskegee Airmen, has died. He was 100.
Stewart died Sunday at his home in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, a northern suburb of Detroit, the Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Museum confirmed. He is survived by a daughter, Lori Collette Stewart, of Bloomfield Hills, and extended family.
"We are deeply saddened by his passing and extend our condolences to his family and friends around the world," said Brian Smith, the president and CEO of the Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Museum in Detroit. "Harry Stewart was a kind man of profound character and accomplishment with a distinguished career of service he continued long after fighting for our country in World War II."
Stewart was among the first 1,000 Black pilots in the 1940s trained at the Tuskegee Army Airfield in Alabama before Black and white airmen were allowed to serve together. Only one of them is still alive.
Among other honors, Stewart earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery while escorting U.S. bombers during World War II and heroic actions in combat, the museum said. He also was one of four Tuskegee Airmen who shot down three enemy aircraft in a single day.
In 2007, the Tuskegee Airmen were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. In 2019, Stewart's memoir, "Soaring to Glory: A Tuskegee Airman's Firsthand Account of World War II," which detailed his wartime experiences, was published.
For his centennial birthday — on July 4 — the museum threw Stewart a party at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Airport. He celebrated, surrounded by dignitaries and loved ones, and offered a message about racial progress: Guard it.
Lt. Col. Harry Stewart Jr. was captivated by planes since his youth
Stewart said he was fascinated by airplanes as a youngster. When the war came, he was drafted and got his chance to become a pilot — learning to fly even before he could drive and helping to save the world from the evils of fascism.
Born in Newport News, Virginia, Stewart was captivated by flight as a baby. He said his parents told him he'd lay in his crib outdoors and watch the aircraft overhead, trying to wave at the pilots.
Then, as a teen, Pearl Harbor was attacked, and he said in an interview with radio station WAMC-FM in Albany, New York, that he watched P-39 aircraft flying in a tight formation and knew "it wouldn't be long before the draft would call me up."
He said he learned to fly first because in New York City people took public transportation.
After the war, Stewart earned a mechanical engineering degree from New York University; in 1976, he moved to metro Detroit, retiring as a vice president from ANR Pipeline Co., a Detroit-based oil and gas consortium.
An advocate for the Tuskegee Airmen legacy
The National WWII Museum in New Orleans said Stewart became an advocate for the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen, in which he "played a vital role in their recognition." The group consisted of more than 15,000 Black pilots, mechanics, and cooks in the segregated Army of World War II.
"In 2024, The National WWII Museum was proud to recognize the trailblazing Tuskegee Airmen with the American Spirit Award, the institution's highest honor, for their accomplishments and patriotism in the face of discrimination," according to the museum's obituary for Stewart.
Last month, the U.S. Air Force briefly removed course instruction about the Tuskegee Airmen and the Women Airforce Service Pilots from the basic training curriculum. The decision followed President Donald Trump's executive order banning diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in the federal government.
The removal immediately received backlash from legislators, retired military personnel, and other advocates, prompting the Air Force to resume its instruction.
'Finally': Tuskegee Airmen honored 73 years after competition win was 'swept under the rug'
Contributing: Thao Nguyen and Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY
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