1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:07,049 --> 00:00:08,800 [Harry Stewart] Isn't that something? 3 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 4 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:10,052 [James Harvey] Yeah, it is. 5 00:00:10,052 --> 00:00:12,804 [Harry Stewart] Boy, what a small world. 6 00:00:15,057 --> 00:00:17,184 [James Harvey] Everything had to be perfect. 7 00:00:17,184 --> 00:00:19,645 The instructor gave me a maneuver to practice until 8 00:00:19,645 --> 00:00:21,939 my next check ride. 9 00:00:21,939 --> 00:00:26,068 I practice, practice, practice until I got it perfect. 10 00:00:27,069 --> 00:00:29,279 I'm having a birthday party next year. 11 00:00:29,279 --> 00:00:30,280 [Harry Stewart] The 100th? 12 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:31,240 [James Harvey] Huh? 13 00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:33,575 - 100? - Yeah. 14 00:00:34,076 --> 00:00:37,287 [Harry Stewart] You fly along and the sky is so tranquil. 15 00:00:37,287 --> 00:00:40,916 And then all of a sudden: bang! 16 00:00:40,916 --> 00:00:43,585 [gunfire] 17 00:00:43,585 --> 00:00:47,881 And here's an 88 anti-aircraft shell that might explode 18 00:00:47,881 --> 00:00:50,259 right next to you. 19 00:00:50,801 --> 00:00:53,178 [James Harvey] Each one of us wanted to be the best. 20 00:00:53,178 --> 00:00:55,639 You get all those best together. 21 00:00:55,639 --> 00:00:58,058 You've got quite an organization. 22 00:00:58,058 --> 00:01:00,185 And that's what we had. 23 00:01:02,646 --> 00:01:04,189 [George Hardy] We painted not only the rudder, but 24 00:01:04,189 --> 00:01:06,233 the whole damn tail red. 25 00:01:06,233 --> 00:01:08,735 And so became known as the "Red Tails." 26 00:01:08,735 --> 00:01:11,947 And it was just a symbol. 27 00:01:11,947 --> 00:01:15,534 Because people started talking about, "The Real Red Tails." 28 00:01:25,502 --> 00:01:28,046 [breathing with apparatus] 29 00:01:28,046 --> 00:01:30,841 [splash] 30 00:01:32,426 --> 00:01:35,512 [Narrator] In the waters of Lake Huron, 31 00:01:35,512 --> 00:01:38,307 lies a P-39 Airacobra 32 00:01:38,307 --> 00:01:43,854 flown during a Tuskegee training mission in 1944. 33 00:01:46,356 --> 00:01:48,275 [Drew Losinski] Hey there! 34 00:01:48,275 --> 00:01:50,569 [David Losinski] Please stand by. 35 00:01:50,569 --> 00:01:53,155 [muffled yell]. 36 00:02:02,205 --> 00:02:04,875 [Wayne Lusardi] Let me know when there are 12 there. 37 00:02:06,168 --> 00:02:08,253 [Nicholas Lusardi] I got it. 38 00:02:11,340 --> 00:02:12,382 [DNR Staffer] You ready? 39 00:02:12,382 --> 00:02:14,885 [Wayne Lusardi] You ready? 40 00:02:17,554 --> 00:02:20,432 [Narrator] A recovery team is piecing together what happened 41 00:02:20,432 --> 00:02:25,646 in these waters all those years ago. 42 00:02:27,773 --> 00:02:29,524 [Wayne Lusardi] How many people know that there are 43 00:02:29,524 --> 00:02:33,362 World War II assets and archeological sites in America, 44 00:02:33,362 --> 00:02:36,031 no less in the Great Lakes? 45 00:02:39,242 --> 00:02:41,578 [Narrator] Wayne Lusardi and Brian Smith... 46 00:02:41,578 --> 00:02:43,163 [Dr. Brian Smith] Gary, do you want to zip me up? 47 00:02:43,455 --> 00:02:46,416 [Narrator] ...partnered up six years ago and they've been 48 00:02:46,416 --> 00:02:49,378 dedicated to this unique chapter of America's 49 00:02:49,378 --> 00:02:53,173 first Black military airmen ever since. 50 00:02:55,801 --> 00:02:57,427 [Dr. Brian Smith] Bringing all this back together, 51 00:02:57,427 --> 00:03:00,555 especially in a museum of the Tuskegee Airmen, 52 00:03:00,555 --> 00:03:04,393 it's going to just solidify the fact that 53 00:03:04,393 --> 00:03:07,771 these men who were not treated as equal citizens, 54 00:03:07,771 --> 00:03:10,774 were willing to give their lives. 55 00:03:15,237 --> 00:03:18,365 I think what's not in the history books is... 56 00:03:18,365 --> 00:03:20,158 just the blood, sweat, and tears that the 57 00:03:20,158 --> 00:03:24,454 Tuskegee airmen went through to fight for their country. 58 00:03:31,294 --> 00:03:34,423 [Narrator] In training missions alone, 15 young men 59 00:03:34,423 --> 00:03:40,345 lost their lives here between 1943 and 1944. 60 00:03:44,141 --> 00:03:45,851 [Wayne Lusardi] We have a sense of urgency to bring the 61 00:03:45,851 --> 00:03:48,395 aircraft up because of its deterioration, 62 00:03:48,395 --> 00:03:50,689 because of a potential looting threat. 63 00:03:50,689 --> 00:03:53,775 The clock is definitely ticking. 64 00:03:58,029 --> 00:04:04,327 [propeller ticking] 65 00:04:05,704 --> 00:04:09,708 [Narrator] The plane was piloted by 22-year-old Frank Moody, 66 00:04:09,708 --> 00:04:12,419 who had already completed the rigors of the 67 00:04:12,419 --> 00:04:15,672 fledgling Tuskegee program. 68 00:04:18,425 --> 00:04:20,218 [Wayne Lusardi] Recovering this from the lake bottom is 69 00:04:20,218 --> 00:04:23,013 really going to hopefully lead to answering a lot of the 70 00:04:23,013 --> 00:04:26,224 questions that we have about the site. 71 00:04:27,809 --> 00:04:30,645 [Narrator] The Great Lakes were an advanced training site, 72 00:04:30,645 --> 00:04:32,647 so by the time the pilots arrived here, 73 00:04:32,647 --> 00:04:35,984 they were already the cream of the crop. 74 00:04:39,529 --> 00:04:43,074 [Harry Stewart Jr] As a kid, I used to view the planes 75 00:04:43,074 --> 00:04:47,704 taking off and landing and fantasizing about myself being 76 00:04:47,704 --> 00:04:50,040 the pilot who's flying the plane. 77 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:52,626 So, I think that's what actually pointed me towards 78 00:04:52,626 --> 00:04:54,586 trying to get into the aviation field when 79 00:04:54,586 --> 00:04:57,214 World War II started. 80 00:05:02,719 --> 00:05:05,472 [Narrator] Training for Tuskegee pilots on the home front 81 00:05:05,472 --> 00:05:09,476 was difficult and dangerous. 82 00:05:10,894 --> 00:05:13,188 [Harry Stewart Jr] There's this anxiety, every time you 83 00:05:13,188 --> 00:05:16,149 get in that cockpit, you're always got it in the back of 84 00:05:16,149 --> 00:05:18,902 your mind the danger that you're in. 85 00:05:22,155 --> 00:05:24,407 [Dr. Brian Smith] The coastline here in the Great Lakes was 86 00:05:24,407 --> 00:05:26,826 just like the coastline in France. 87 00:05:30,789 --> 00:05:33,542 [gunfire] 88 00:05:33,834 --> 00:05:35,335 [James Harvey] I didn't know what to expect. 89 00:05:35,335 --> 00:05:38,088 All this is new to me. 90 00:05:38,088 --> 00:05:42,634 I completed the exam, passed it, then went off to learn to fly. 91 00:05:44,094 --> 00:05:47,472 [Dr. Brian Smith] So, they trained here in P-39 aircraft. 92 00:05:47,472 --> 00:05:49,516 They would take off from Selfridge and fly no more than 93 00:05:49,516 --> 00:05:53,520 50 feet above trees, hills, mountains, all the way to 94 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:55,647 Muskegon, turn around and 95 00:05:55,647 --> 00:05:58,733 come back just to prepare them for combat. 96 00:06:03,822 --> 00:06:06,616 [♪ jazzy music] 97 00:06:06,616 --> 00:06:08,702 [Narrator] At that time, Selfridge Field would have 98 00:06:08,702 --> 00:06:12,539 been abuzz with wartime activity. 99 00:06:13,832 --> 00:06:18,503 The 332nd had moved from Tuskegee, Alabama to Michigan 100 00:06:18,503 --> 00:06:22,716 and was supported by young men who had volunteered to join 101 00:06:22,716 --> 00:06:27,262 the war effort, just like Frank Moody. 102 00:06:28,179 --> 00:06:29,514 [Wayne Lusardi] He started working for an aviation 103 00:06:29,514 --> 00:06:33,351 manufacturing company during the war and then ultimately 104 00:06:33,351 --> 00:06:37,314 was able to get a spot at Tuskegee, where he earned his 105 00:06:37,314 --> 00:06:40,358 wings in February 1944. 106 00:06:42,944 --> 00:06:45,196 [Dr. Brian Smith] He had gone through the primary training, 107 00:06:45,196 --> 00:06:47,574 the basic training, the advanced training, 108 00:06:47,574 --> 00:06:49,409 and he was in combat training here 109 00:06:49,409 --> 00:06:52,078 at Selfridge Air National Guard Base. 110 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:55,624 [Matt Delmont] It's important to remember how young these 111 00:06:55,624 --> 00:06:58,001 men and women were when they were called into the service, 112 00:06:58,001 --> 00:07:01,421 taking on these training missions. 113 00:07:02,297 --> 00:07:04,633 Each time you go up, you could potentially lose your life and 114 00:07:04,633 --> 00:07:07,135 you're training to go to war. 115 00:07:08,219 --> 00:07:10,597 [John Harrison] I volunteered to serve my country and 116 00:07:10,597 --> 00:07:13,683 I'm ready to serve my country and the war. 117 00:07:15,852 --> 00:07:18,730 [Matt Delmont] Their patriotism was deep and profound 118 00:07:18,730 --> 00:07:20,607 because they not only wanted to win these military battles, 119 00:07:20,607 --> 00:07:23,777 but they also wanted to change what America was about. 120 00:07:26,071 --> 00:07:27,906 [Soldier] This isn't the Army's war. 121 00:07:27,906 --> 00:07:30,241 It isn't the Navy's war. 122 00:07:30,241 --> 00:07:33,244 It's the war of all Americans. 123 00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:37,624 [Narrator] But at the time, the military didn't see 124 00:07:37,624 --> 00:07:41,586 all Americans as fit to serve equally. 125 00:07:43,254 --> 00:07:47,008 It took the lobbying of civil rights activists to force 126 00:07:47,008 --> 00:07:51,471 Congress to alter the Selective Service Act of 1940. 127 00:07:54,557 --> 00:07:56,101 [Matt Delmont] The Selective Service Act has 128 00:07:56,101 --> 00:07:58,561 non-discrimination provisions that are written into it based 129 00:07:58,561 --> 00:08:01,523 on the previous protests of civil right activists. 130 00:08:01,523 --> 00:08:03,692 That means that Black Americans can't be excluded 131 00:08:03,692 --> 00:08:06,361 from military service. 132 00:08:07,737 --> 00:08:10,615 [Harry Stewart Jr] Well, I volunteered at 17, but I was 133 00:08:10,615 --> 00:08:12,909 taken into the service at 18. 134 00:08:12,909 --> 00:08:15,537 At the beginning of World War II, 135 00:08:15,537 --> 00:08:18,665 they had a mandatory for all 136 00:08:18,665 --> 00:08:25,004 able-bodied males between the ages of 18 and 36 137 00:08:25,004 --> 00:08:28,258 were to register for the draft. 138 00:08:28,258 --> 00:08:30,218 [Draft Officer] What machines did you operate? 139 00:08:30,218 --> 00:08:32,929 [Draftee] I operated boring mills, tool grinders, 140 00:08:32,929 --> 00:08:35,306 drill presses, planes. 141 00:08:35,306 --> 00:08:38,601 [Harry Stewart Jr] But most of the African American soldiers, 142 00:08:38,601 --> 00:08:41,396 even though they did a fine job, 143 00:08:41,396 --> 00:08:43,815 they were segregated to the point where 144 00:08:43,815 --> 00:08:47,569 they were put into strictly menial labor. 145 00:08:49,946 --> 00:08:51,823 [Matt Delmont] White military leaders just didn't believe 146 00:08:51,823 --> 00:08:53,992 that Black Americans had the intelligence, courage, 147 00:08:53,992 --> 00:08:56,786 bravery, to be able to be good soldiers, and they, 148 00:08:56,786 --> 00:09:00,373 military leaders wrote that into the official documentation. 149 00:09:01,583 --> 00:09:02,917 [James Harvey] "According to the studies, a Negro was 150 00:09:02,917 --> 00:09:05,712 barely qualified for combat duty. 151 00:09:05,712 --> 00:09:10,300 Was by nature subservient, mentally inferior, and 152 00:09:10,300 --> 00:09:14,846 believed himself to be inferior to the White man. 153 00:09:16,306 --> 00:09:19,726 Was susceptible to crowd psychology, cannot control 154 00:09:19,726 --> 00:09:23,730 himself in the face of danger, and did not have the initiative, 155 00:09:23,730 --> 00:09:26,941 courage, and resourcefulness of the White man." 156 00:09:26,941 --> 00:09:29,527 That's what we had to put up with. 157 00:09:29,527 --> 00:09:32,572 All wrong. 158 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:38,995 [Lee Archer] I went down to join the Army Air Corps. 159 00:09:39,496 --> 00:09:40,413 Took the test. 160 00:09:41,289 --> 00:09:44,709 Did very well on it, and after I had hassled them a bit about 161 00:09:44,709 --> 00:09:49,047 not being called, I was informed by the military that 162 00:09:49,047 --> 00:09:51,758 I would never be called for the Army Air Corps because 163 00:09:51,758 --> 00:09:53,843 there were no colored units. 164 00:09:53,843 --> 00:09:54,969 There was never going to be one. 165 00:09:54,969 --> 00:09:57,096 There was no way I could go. 166 00:10:02,560 --> 00:10:05,146 [Narrator] But the Black activist movement continued 167 00:10:05,146 --> 00:10:08,066 its political assault on Washington 168 00:10:08,066 --> 00:10:12,070 demanding military equality. 169 00:10:13,279 --> 00:10:15,406 [Matt Delmont] And what Black activists are demanding are 170 00:10:15,406 --> 00:10:18,326 all things related to the war: they want access to defense 171 00:10:18,326 --> 00:10:20,453 industry jobs and they want specific parts of the military 172 00:10:20,453 --> 00:10:23,331 to be opened up, particularly things like the Army Air Corps. 173 00:10:23,748 --> 00:10:25,750 The White House, Roosevelt, and other federal officials 174 00:10:25,750 --> 00:10:28,419 just can't ignore anymore. 175 00:10:29,879 --> 00:10:32,590 [James Harvey] Roosevelt was running for a third term. 176 00:10:32,590 --> 00:10:38,221 The Negro press and the NAACP, they were on the backs of 177 00:10:38,221 --> 00:10:41,850 Congress wanting something to happen. 178 00:10:49,899 --> 00:10:54,737 And Roosevelt figured that if he started a fighter squadron, 179 00:10:54,737 --> 00:10:57,824 he'd get the Black vote, which he did. 180 00:10:57,824 --> 00:11:00,493 And he won. 181 00:11:00,493 --> 00:11:03,705 But all politics; but it worked out for us. 182 00:11:08,293 --> 00:11:12,881 [Narrator] In January 1941, the war department established 183 00:11:12,881 --> 00:11:16,342 the 99th Pursuit Squadron, 184 00:11:16,342 --> 00:11:18,887 based out of Tuskegee, Alabama. 185 00:11:21,848 --> 00:11:25,810 It was the first segregated unit within the Army Air Corps. 186 00:11:27,645 --> 00:11:30,732 [President Roosevelt] I'm proud of what Tuskegee has done. 187 00:11:30,732 --> 00:11:34,777 I don't whether in any individual institution, 188 00:11:34,777 --> 00:11:40,366 realize how much they are being watched by the outside world. 189 00:11:43,786 --> 00:11:45,580 [Matt Delmont] They were trained to be successful 190 00:11:45,580 --> 00:11:47,790 fighter pilots, but they're also trained to really prove 191 00:11:47,790 --> 00:11:50,084 to the larger military establishment that 192 00:11:50,084 --> 00:11:53,254 Black Americans could do this work. 193 00:11:53,254 --> 00:11:56,174 [Narrator] And that's exactly what Frank Moody was doing as 194 00:11:56,174 --> 00:11:59,260 he advanced through the program. 195 00:12:00,386 --> 00:12:02,680 [Dr. Brian Smith] An airman would have started out at 196 00:12:02,680 --> 00:12:07,268 Tuskegee and then move to another base that 197 00:12:07,268 --> 00:12:10,188 specifically focused on combat training. 198 00:12:10,188 --> 00:12:12,982 And that's why they came to Selfridge. 199 00:12:16,903 --> 00:12:20,823 They were learning how to come from over the horizon on the 200 00:12:20,823 --> 00:12:25,161 water to strafe or destroy radar towers or installation 201 00:12:25,161 --> 00:12:27,747 along the coast. 202 00:12:32,710 --> 00:12:35,922 [Wayne Lusardi] On the morning of April 11th, 1944, Frank Moody 203 00:12:35,922 --> 00:12:38,549 was flying one of the most sophisticated 204 00:12:38,549 --> 00:12:42,345 fighter aircraft built at the time: the P-39. 205 00:12:42,345 --> 00:12:45,974 And did his pre-flight, and the mission for the day was to 206 00:12:45,974 --> 00:12:49,519 leave early in the morning and to fly up over Lake Huron, 207 00:12:49,519 --> 00:12:51,854 up the Saint Claire River, and get out over the Lake Huron 208 00:12:51,854 --> 00:12:54,399 and do some gunnery exercises. 209 00:12:58,236 --> 00:13:00,613 [Dr. Brian Smith] A P-39 Airacobra. 210 00:13:00,613 --> 00:13:04,617 That's a unique airplane; the engine was behind the pilot. 211 00:13:04,617 --> 00:13:07,787 It had four 50-caliber machine guns, two of which sat 212 00:13:07,787 --> 00:13:10,540 right on top of the cowling. 213 00:13:10,540 --> 00:13:13,835 In the middle of the airplane, was a 37-millimeter canon, 214 00:13:13,835 --> 00:13:18,381 which shot a shell that would destroy tanks. 215 00:13:23,386 --> 00:13:25,013 [Wayne Lusardi] So, four aircraft, all P-39s, 216 00:13:25,013 --> 00:13:28,016 left Selfridge Field. 217 00:13:31,853 --> 00:13:34,022 Right before 8:00 in the morning, they came up over 218 00:13:34,022 --> 00:13:35,440 Lake Huron. 219 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:37,817 They were flying in formation from south to north. 220 00:13:37,817 --> 00:13:42,030 And when it was Lieutenant Moody's time, he discharged 221 00:13:42,030 --> 00:13:43,990 his weapons, fired into the lake. 222 00:13:43,990 --> 00:13:47,285 [gunfire] 223 00:13:47,827 --> 00:13:50,038 And then something happened to the aircraft that resulted in 224 00:13:50,038 --> 00:13:53,875 an almost instantaneous crash into the water, cartwheeling 225 00:13:53,875 --> 00:13:55,877 of the aircraft, and he was gone. 226 00:13:55,877 --> 00:13:58,755 He was killed immediately in that accident. 227 00:14:01,299 --> 00:14:04,427 [Narrator] His body was recovered in 54 days, 228 00:14:04,427 --> 00:14:08,014 but the plane was never found. 229 00:14:08,014 --> 00:14:11,476 Until April 11, 2014, 230 00:14:11,893 --> 00:14:15,521 exactly 70 years to the date of the crash. 231 00:14:23,112 --> 00:14:25,865 [Narrator] Frank Moody's P-39 was discovered by 232 00:14:25,865 --> 00:14:30,703 Drew and David Losinski, a father-son dive team. 233 00:14:32,121 --> 00:14:35,041 [David Losinski] We were diving, my son and I, and the water 234 00:14:35,041 --> 00:14:37,835 was crystal clear, this was early in the Spring, I think. 235 00:14:39,212 --> 00:14:41,005 We went out and went to the first spot. 236 00:14:41,005 --> 00:14:43,633 We figured it was a rock, I think, and the second spot, 237 00:14:43,633 --> 00:14:46,219 Drew's at the very bow of the boat looking down; 238 00:14:46,219 --> 00:14:47,178 we're looking, and he goes, 239 00:14:47,512 --> 00:14:50,306 "Dad, I think you found, we found an airplane!" 240 00:14:50,306 --> 00:14:52,475 And I'm back driving the boat, 241 00:14:52,475 --> 00:14:54,977 and I says, you know how parents are, 242 00:14:54,977 --> 00:14:56,813 "yeah, sure, okay." 243 00:14:56,813 --> 00:14:59,524 "No, Dad, it's really an airplane." 244 00:15:02,985 --> 00:15:05,905 [plash, bubbles] 245 00:15:07,573 --> 00:15:09,951 The main thing that we wanted to do was to find out what the 246 00:15:09,951 --> 00:15:13,329 plane was or how it got there, whose it was. 247 00:15:14,455 --> 00:15:18,167 We were down swimming, looking at the wing, 248 00:15:21,045 --> 00:15:23,297 and we dust it off. 249 00:15:25,258 --> 00:15:28,302 You could see the red position light. 250 00:15:28,302 --> 00:15:32,265 And looking at pictures, I figured there should be 251 00:15:32,265 --> 00:15:35,059 something, something painted, so we fanned it off. 252 00:15:35,643 --> 00:15:39,230 And there was a star, a box with a star. 253 00:15:40,565 --> 00:15:46,654 It means that it's military, and it's a U.S. military plane. 254 00:15:51,367 --> 00:15:53,661 [Drew Losinski] So later on, we found out through lots of 255 00:15:53,661 --> 00:15:56,873 research and finding key parts of the airplane, we got the 256 00:15:56,873 --> 00:16:00,084 radio call number, which we linked to the accident report, 257 00:16:00,084 --> 00:16:05,298 which told us that we found that plane 70 years to the 258 00:16:05,298 --> 00:16:08,134 date of when it crashed. 259 00:16:09,886 --> 00:16:12,430 It was pretty unbelievable. 260 00:16:16,058 --> 00:16:18,394 [Wayne Lusardi] The Losinski's became immediate stewards 261 00:16:18,394 --> 00:16:19,979 of this site. 262 00:16:19,979 --> 00:16:21,981 We started kind of putting our head together about 263 00:16:21,981 --> 00:16:24,233 what are the options. 264 00:16:24,233 --> 00:16:25,151 Should we leave it in place? 265 00:16:25,651 --> 00:16:28,279 Should we document the entire wreck site ahead of time? 266 00:16:28,279 --> 00:16:31,449 Should it be recovered either in part or partially? 267 00:16:32,867 --> 00:16:35,870 [Narrator] Finding Frank Moody's plane triggered one of 268 00:16:35,870 --> 00:16:40,249 the most important World War II archeological missions in 269 00:16:40,249 --> 00:16:42,752 the Great Lakes. 270 00:16:43,461 --> 00:16:46,214 [Wayne Lusardi] This is the first airplane that has been 271 00:16:46,214 --> 00:16:49,175 archeologically documented in the state of Michigan. 272 00:16:49,175 --> 00:16:51,135 We're trying to determine a cause of the accident; 273 00:16:51,135 --> 00:16:53,387 we're trying to see how an intact, 274 00:16:53,387 --> 00:16:56,849 very complicated machine, suddenly breaks apart. 275 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:04,649 [Narrator] Recovering a plane that's been underwater for 276 00:17:04,649 --> 00:17:07,944 70 years is no easy task. 277 00:17:10,196 --> 00:17:12,281 It's a multi-year effort, 278 00:17:12,281 --> 00:17:14,283 trying to raise it piece by piece 279 00:17:14,283 --> 00:17:18,079 and then immediately start preservation efforts. 280 00:17:21,582 --> 00:17:22,708 And the collaboration with the 281 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:27,171 Tuskegee Airmen National Museum has been key. 282 00:17:33,844 --> 00:17:35,638 [Dr. Brian Smith] Frank Moody and his crash brings to light 283 00:17:35,638 --> 00:17:39,475 the sacrifices that the Airmen made just to get to combat. 284 00:17:41,560 --> 00:17:43,271 [Narrator] While we don't have his first-hand accounts from 285 00:17:43,271 --> 00:17:48,734 Frank, we do from other Tuskegee Airmen. 286 00:17:57,868 --> 00:17:59,620 [Harry Stewart Jr] I remember that when I went into the 287 00:17:59,620 --> 00:18:04,333 service, the first place I was assigned to was 288 00:18:04,333 --> 00:18:07,086 Kessler Field, Mississippi, 289 00:18:07,086 --> 00:18:11,173 that being below what they call the Mason-Dixon Line. 290 00:18:12,300 --> 00:18:15,970 Below that geographical point, segregation was the law. 291 00:18:15,970 --> 00:18:19,598 It was not a choice, but a law there. 292 00:18:21,475 --> 00:18:23,269 [Matt Delmont] For Moody and other Tuskegee pilots, 293 00:18:23,269 --> 00:18:25,229 they're always fighting two battles at the same time. 294 00:18:25,229 --> 00:18:26,939 They're trained to fight a military battle, which was 295 00:18:26,939 --> 00:18:29,400 frightening in its own right, but they're also fighting a 296 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:31,235 battle against racism, 297 00:18:31,235 --> 00:18:33,487 a battle against second-class citizenship. 298 00:18:34,155 --> 00:18:35,489 [James Harvey] We got to Washington D.C. 299 00:18:35,489 --> 00:18:38,409 a little early, so I got off the train, went and had 300 00:18:38,409 --> 00:18:41,370 breakfast, came back, went to get in the car I was in, 301 00:18:41,370 --> 00:18:44,373 conductor says, no, no, no, no. 302 00:18:44,373 --> 00:18:47,168 You ride in the car where Negroes ride. 303 00:18:47,168 --> 00:18:52,214 So, that was my introduction to segregation and the South. 304 00:18:56,886 --> 00:18:58,137 [Matt Delmont] So, if you're trying to think of a welcoming 305 00:18:58,596 --> 00:19:01,474 place to train Black troops, Alabama in the 1940s wouldn't 306 00:19:01,474 --> 00:19:05,019 be the first place that you would think of. 307 00:19:08,272 --> 00:19:10,316 One of the challenges at Tuskegee Air Base was that it 308 00:19:10,316 --> 00:19:13,152 was a Jim Crow base in a Jim Crow city in a Jim Crow state, 309 00:19:13,152 --> 00:19:15,696 and that shaped almost every aspect of what training was 310 00:19:15,696 --> 00:19:17,698 like for these Black pilots. 311 00:19:17,698 --> 00:19:19,241 [James Harvey] I didn't go to town. 312 00:19:19,241 --> 00:19:21,410 I stayed on the base the whole time. 313 00:19:21,410 --> 00:19:24,330 You get into trouble going into town. 314 00:19:25,206 --> 00:19:28,376 Now, down at Tuskegee, one of the guys went into town, 315 00:19:28,376 --> 00:19:32,588 and the Sheriff told him, if I ever catch you back in town, 316 00:19:32,588 --> 00:19:34,382 I'll blow your brains out. 317 00:19:44,392 --> 00:19:45,559 [Matt Delmont] The Tuskegee Airmen had to channel their 318 00:19:45,893 --> 00:19:49,230 frustration, their anger, into their military performance. 319 00:19:52,358 --> 00:19:53,776 [Harry Stewart Jr] My heart must have skipped a couple of 320 00:19:54,068 --> 00:19:56,904 beats and that type of thing, but I guess it was more with 321 00:19:56,904 --> 00:19:59,615 joy than anything else. 322 00:19:59,615 --> 00:20:04,745 I took off, and as soon as I broke grounds, I just felt 323 00:20:04,745 --> 00:20:09,417 this exhilaration; I've done it, I've done it, I've done it! 324 00:20:12,253 --> 00:20:18,843 [plane engine rumbling] 325 00:20:24,348 --> 00:20:30,104 [♪ triumphant music] 326 00:20:33,315 --> 00:20:35,776 [Narrator] Despite their excellence, the military and 327 00:20:35,776 --> 00:20:38,904 the public were not on board, 328 00:20:38,904 --> 00:20:43,409 so the NAACP and the Black press doubled down. 329 00:20:46,912 --> 00:20:48,622 [Matt Delmont] The Black press understood themselves 330 00:20:48,622 --> 00:20:50,249 as a fighting press. 331 00:20:50,249 --> 00:20:51,709 And the thing they were fighting for in the lead up to 332 00:20:51,709 --> 00:20:53,544 World War II and then during World War II was to make sure 333 00:20:53,544 --> 00:20:55,880 Black Americans had a chance to be able to serve their 334 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:58,215 country equally. 335 00:21:01,260 --> 00:21:04,388 [Narrator] This relentless advocacy laid the foundation 336 00:21:04,388 --> 00:21:08,809 for an innovative initiative: the Double Victory Campaign. 337 00:21:12,813 --> 00:21:14,899 [Matt Delmont] The Double V Campaign, is really the 338 00:21:14,899 --> 00:21:17,234 rallying cry for Black Americans during the war. 339 00:21:17,234 --> 00:21:19,069 It's launched by the Pittsburgh Courier. 340 00:21:19,069 --> 00:21:21,322 What they're calling for is a victory over fascism abroad 341 00:21:21,322 --> 00:21:23,407 and victory over racism at home. 342 00:21:33,209 --> 00:21:36,504 [Narrator] Eleanor Roosevelt lent her powerful voice to the 343 00:21:36,504 --> 00:21:39,465 fight early on. 344 00:21:39,465 --> 00:21:41,217 [Newsreel Narrator] Everything Eleanor Roosevelt says and 345 00:21:41,217 --> 00:21:43,677 does becomes news. 346 00:21:43,677 --> 00:21:47,556 [James Harvey] Well, she had always heard that Negroes 347 00:21:47,556 --> 00:21:52,144 could not fly airplanes, so she went to Tuskegee, 348 00:21:52,144 --> 00:21:55,523 and she rode with a guy we call "Chief" Anderson. 349 00:21:55,523 --> 00:21:57,691 And she found out we can fly airplanes 350 00:21:57,691 --> 00:22:00,152 just like anybody else. 351 00:22:00,152 --> 00:22:04,406 So, when they took the picture of she and Chief Anderson in 352 00:22:04,406 --> 00:22:08,160 the airplane and it was in all the newspapers 353 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:10,371 throughout the country. 354 00:22:10,371 --> 00:22:13,874 That sealed the deal right there. 355 00:22:13,874 --> 00:22:17,378 Yes, they can fly just like anybody else. 356 00:22:17,378 --> 00:22:19,964 As a matter of fact, they can fly better. 357 00:22:19,964 --> 00:22:21,757 [laughs] 358 00:22:21,757 --> 00:22:23,842 Just ask me. 359 00:22:33,519 --> 00:22:37,773 [Narrator] In 1942, the first class of cadets graduated from 360 00:22:37,773 --> 00:22:41,026 Tuskegee Army Airfield. 361 00:22:42,486 --> 00:22:45,197 [Harry Stewart Jr] One of the most fantastic days in my life 362 00:22:45,197 --> 00:22:48,242 there that I can never forget. 363 00:22:48,868 --> 00:22:52,663 But it was graduation day, and just before going up and being 364 00:22:52,663 --> 00:22:57,501 presented my wings and my bars, as I said, 365 00:22:57,501 --> 00:23:00,296 "I think I've done it!" 366 00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:02,339 [George Hardy] Yes, it was a special day. 367 00:23:02,339 --> 00:23:06,427 We succeeded in the training and got our wings and now 368 00:23:06,427 --> 00:23:09,346 we're commissioned as an actual Second Lieutenant in 369 00:23:09,346 --> 00:23:11,515 the United States Army. 370 00:23:11,515 --> 00:23:13,350 And in July, a year before, 371 00:23:13,350 --> 00:23:15,436 I was just getting into the service. 372 00:23:15,436 --> 00:23:17,021 And now I'm a pilot. 373 00:23:17,021 --> 00:23:19,607 I can fly airplanes. 374 00:23:25,237 --> 00:23:28,407 [Narrator] But the risks were great. 375 00:23:29,241 --> 00:23:33,704 Nearly 15,000 servicemen died during training exercises 376 00:23:33,704 --> 00:23:36,457 in the United States alone. 377 00:23:43,589 --> 00:23:48,427 [♪ somber music] 378 00:23:48,427 --> 00:23:52,389 Today, the archeological quest to understand what happened to 379 00:23:52,389 --> 00:23:56,644 Frank Moody is in its tenth year. 380 00:23:56,644 --> 00:23:59,688 [Wayne Lusardi] According to the U.S. Army accident report, 381 00:23:59,688 --> 00:24:02,232 the other three pilots that were in formation 382 00:24:02,232 --> 00:24:04,860 with Lieutenant Frank Moody, two of them 383 00:24:04,860 --> 00:24:08,155 reported seeing fragments coming off of the aircraft, 384 00:24:08,155 --> 00:24:11,200 near the forward fuselage. 385 00:24:17,081 --> 00:24:19,541 It's always a possibility that there's some kind of 386 00:24:19,541 --> 00:24:22,461 mechanical problem with the aircraft. 387 00:24:23,545 --> 00:24:25,631 [Dr. Brian Smith] The airplane started to shake apart, 388 00:24:25,631 --> 00:24:27,383 and he lost control. 389 00:24:27,383 --> 00:24:30,469 The airplane nosed into the lake, Lake Huron. 390 00:24:33,347 --> 00:24:34,807 [Wayne Lusardi] The Army, because they never found the 391 00:24:34,807 --> 00:24:37,601 airplane, really never came to any conclusions as to 392 00:24:37,601 --> 00:24:39,853 what caused the accident. 393 00:24:47,152 --> 00:24:49,321 [Narrator] When the team started exploring the site in 394 00:24:49,321 --> 00:24:53,283 2015, they had to figure out the best way to recover 395 00:24:53,283 --> 00:24:56,537 all of the parts. 396 00:24:58,706 --> 00:25:02,042 [Wayne Lusardi] Looking at a vastly scattered airplane 397 00:25:02,042 --> 00:25:04,044 has been a challenge. 398 00:25:04,044 --> 00:25:05,170 It became very overwhelming. 399 00:25:05,546 --> 00:25:08,424 It's like, okay, well, how are we going to do this? 400 00:25:09,758 --> 00:25:12,386 The ultimate goal of this project is to bring the 401 00:25:12,386 --> 00:25:15,472 aircraft up in its entirety. 402 00:25:21,770 --> 00:25:23,772 Nick, you have the go-pro? 403 00:25:23,772 --> 00:25:25,691 [Nicholas Lusardi] Yep. 404 00:25:31,905 --> 00:25:35,159 [splashing] 405 00:25:40,831 --> 00:25:43,333 [splashing] 406 00:25:43,333 --> 00:25:44,626 [Wayne Lusardi] The site is broken. 407 00:25:44,626 --> 00:25:46,086 It's highly disarticulated. 408 00:25:46,378 --> 00:25:48,464 You had and airplane that was roughly 30 feet in length and 409 00:25:48,464 --> 00:25:51,967 about a 32-foot wingspan that is now in literally thousands 410 00:25:51,967 --> 00:25:54,887 of pieces across the lake floor. 411 00:26:02,186 --> 00:26:04,313 [gunfire] 412 00:26:04,313 --> 00:26:07,107 [David Losinski] Gimme that knife for the cable. 413 00:26:11,820 --> 00:26:14,156 [Drew Losinski] Alright. Winch up. 414 00:26:16,784 --> 00:26:19,244 [radio chatter] 415 00:26:20,287 --> 00:26:23,248 [Dr. Brian Smith] We got this humongous propeller blade 416 00:26:23,248 --> 00:26:25,751 with the gearbox. 417 00:26:28,045 --> 00:26:30,422 [David Losinski] I say stop. 418 00:26:34,968 --> 00:26:37,179 Cool! 419 00:26:46,396 --> 00:26:48,816 [Wayne Lusardi] The accident report suggested that 420 00:26:48,816 --> 00:26:51,276 something may have happened up forward in the fuselage, 421 00:26:51,276 --> 00:26:53,821 and that could have been a propeller issue. 422 00:26:53,821 --> 00:26:55,030 [Dr. Brian Smith] Of course, I was imagining 423 00:26:55,030 --> 00:26:56,240 the whole airplane. 424 00:26:56,657 --> 00:26:59,118 [Wayne Lusardi] That's exactly what I was thinking too. 425 00:26:59,493 --> 00:27:02,246 The remarkable thing is how far apart they all are. 426 00:27:02,246 --> 00:27:06,250 You know, this one was 500 feet beyond, or the single 427 00:27:06,250 --> 00:27:09,503 blade was 500 feet north, and the other one was 428 00:27:09,503 --> 00:27:11,880 1,200 feet to the south of it. 429 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:14,258 [Dr. Brian Smith] This is maybe the last piece in the puzzle 430 00:27:14,258 --> 00:27:16,885 of why the airplane went down. 431 00:27:16,885 --> 00:27:19,346 It's, so far, you know, up until this point, 432 00:27:19,346 --> 00:27:21,056 it's just been unexplainable. 433 00:27:21,056 --> 00:27:25,602 It's about 70-some years and, wow. 434 00:27:26,937 --> 00:27:30,315 [Wayne Lusardi] Yeah, it's pretty crazy. 435 00:27:37,739 --> 00:27:44,830 [♪ somber music] 436 00:27:47,958 --> 00:27:49,877 [Narrator] By the time Frank Moody was flying his 437 00:27:49,877 --> 00:27:52,838 training missions, Tuskegee Airmen had 438 00:27:52,838 --> 00:27:56,508 been in the European theater for over a year. 439 00:28:01,305 --> 00:28:07,519 [♪ military music] 440 00:28:07,519 --> 00:28:09,062 [Newsreel Narrator] Wing cameras, synchronized with 441 00:28:09,062 --> 00:28:12,065 blazing guns, record dramatic evidence of Nazi planes 442 00:28:12,065 --> 00:28:14,151 blasted from the skies. 443 00:28:14,151 --> 00:28:19,239 [gunfire] 444 00:28:20,908 --> 00:28:22,951 [Lee Archer] I never thought about air-to-air combat as 445 00:28:22,951 --> 00:28:24,870 a big problem. 446 00:28:24,870 --> 00:28:27,956 [gunfire] 447 00:28:27,956 --> 00:28:29,750 I looked for it. 448 00:28:29,750 --> 00:28:33,587 I'd be flying along, "oh, I hope we get some enemy aircraft." 449 00:28:33,587 --> 00:28:36,924 I thought about that is a duel between two men. 450 00:28:36,924 --> 00:28:40,344 I believed that I was a competent pilot, and I knew in 451 00:28:40,344 --> 00:28:42,888 my mind that I was. 452 00:28:43,472 --> 00:28:46,934 [gunfire] 453 00:28:50,812 --> 00:28:52,522 [Narrator] Lee Archer flew under the command of 454 00:28:52,522 --> 00:28:55,901 Benjamin O. Davis, Junior. 455 00:28:58,737 --> 00:29:00,113 [Matt Delmont] Davis is one of the amazing figures 456 00:29:00,113 --> 00:29:01,615 from World War II. 457 00:29:01,615 --> 00:29:03,533 He graduates from West Point in 1936. 458 00:29:03,533 --> 00:29:05,619 He's the first Black person to graduate from West Point 459 00:29:05,619 --> 00:29:08,038 in the 20th century, only the fourth overall. 460 00:29:08,038 --> 00:29:09,998 It's only with the Tuskegee Experiment getting started 461 00:29:09,998 --> 00:29:11,959 that he has the opportunity to pursue his lifelong dream of 462 00:29:11,959 --> 00:29:13,877 becoming a pilot. 463 00:29:13,877 --> 00:29:16,880 [James Harvey] He was a no-nonsense guy. 464 00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:18,924 Everything had to be done right. 465 00:29:18,924 --> 00:29:22,010 And you can't knock him for that. 466 00:29:22,010 --> 00:29:24,888 That's the way things should be no matter what you do, 467 00:29:24,888 --> 00:29:26,181 you do it right. 468 00:29:26,181 --> 00:29:29,142 And he was our commander. 469 00:29:29,142 --> 00:29:31,144 [William Holloman] He made a military man out of me. 470 00:29:31,144 --> 00:29:34,398 I think that he taught us discipline. 471 00:29:34,398 --> 00:29:38,235 And he always tried to encourage us to improve 472 00:29:38,235 --> 00:29:42,280 ourselves because he said, "America's watching you." 473 00:29:46,660 --> 00:29:51,164 [drone whirring] 474 00:29:56,878 --> 00:29:58,630 [Wayne Lusardi] Today is a really big deal. 475 00:29:58,630 --> 00:29:59,798 It's a major piece of the puzzle. 476 00:30:00,340 --> 00:30:01,842 It's going to tell us a lot about the airplane and what 477 00:30:01,842 --> 00:30:05,762 was going on with it when Lieutenant Moody crashed here. 478 00:30:11,685 --> 00:30:13,562 [splash] 479 00:30:16,940 --> 00:30:18,859 [Dr. Brian Smith] It's really murky down there. 480 00:30:18,859 --> 00:30:20,610 I thought it would be better today because 481 00:30:20,610 --> 00:30:21,987 it's sunny and calm. 482 00:30:21,987 --> 00:30:24,865 I think yesterday just stirred everything up. 483 00:30:28,452 --> 00:30:30,078 [David Losinski] We're still waiting on straps, ok? 484 00:30:30,078 --> 00:30:32,247 [David Losinski] Ok. 485 00:30:37,210 --> 00:30:38,879 [David Losinski] Do not move the cable. 486 00:30:39,379 --> 00:30:41,965 Very good. Good. 487 00:30:41,965 --> 00:30:43,884 [Dr. Brian Smith] In a few minutes we're going to see 488 00:30:43,884 --> 00:30:47,929 Alison engine coming up that powered the P-39 that 489 00:30:47,929 --> 00:30:50,474 Frank Moody was flying. 490 00:30:50,474 --> 00:30:52,601 I can't wait. 491 00:30:52,976 --> 00:30:55,812 [David Losinski] I got [inaudible] that the cradle's 492 00:30:55,812 --> 00:30:58,732 going to be the way. 493 00:31:01,777 --> 00:31:03,278 [Dr. Brian Smith] I'm seeing the airbag. 494 00:31:03,278 --> 00:31:06,156 The crane hook is coming up. 495 00:31:06,740 --> 00:31:07,866 There it is! 496 00:31:08,283 --> 00:31:10,077 About two feet underwater and it hasn't been this this high 497 00:31:10,077 --> 00:31:14,748 since 1944, April 11th. 498 00:31:17,167 --> 00:31:18,668 Yeah, you can stop right there. 499 00:31:18,668 --> 00:31:20,253 The bolts are underneath. 500 00:31:20,253 --> 00:31:21,880 Good work Wayne! 501 00:31:21,880 --> 00:31:23,215 [David Losinski] Pretty smooth! 502 00:31:23,215 --> 00:31:24,466 Congratulations! 503 00:31:24,466 --> 00:31:27,677 [chatter]. 504 00:31:28,470 --> 00:31:30,639 [Wayne Lusardi] Piece by piece airplane's coming up. 505 00:31:31,264 --> 00:31:34,976 [Dr. Brian Smith] I don't have the words to express. 506 00:31:36,269 --> 00:31:38,188 [Wayne Lusardi] Probably the heaviest single component of 507 00:31:38,188 --> 00:31:39,523 the aircraft. 508 00:31:39,523 --> 00:31:42,943 So, very cool, it's really going to start to teach us 509 00:31:42,943 --> 00:31:45,779 a lot about this airplane. 510 00:31:45,779 --> 00:31:47,197 [Dr. Brian Smith] Getting it back to the 511 00:31:47,197 --> 00:31:49,366 Tuskegee Airmen National Museum in Detroit 512 00:31:49,366 --> 00:31:52,619 will start the conservation process. 513 00:31:52,619 --> 00:31:56,373 Having the engine, the propeller, the gearbox, 514 00:31:56,373 --> 00:32:00,043 all of that to examine from a forensics side will help us 515 00:32:00,043 --> 00:32:03,338 determine what was the cause of the accident. 516 00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:06,800 [David Losinski] Are we good to good? 517 00:32:06,800 --> 00:32:09,469 Alright. 518 00:32:18,228 --> 00:32:20,105 [Wayne Lusardi] Now, we have to transport it to shore. 519 00:32:20,105 --> 00:32:22,524 We've got to get it off of this barge, move it onto a 520 00:32:22,524 --> 00:32:25,443 flatbed vehicle, and then transport it to the 521 00:32:25,443 --> 00:32:28,321 conservation laboratory in Detroit. 522 00:32:32,826 --> 00:32:35,203 [Dr. Brian Smith] We do need to move the water machine. 523 00:32:35,203 --> 00:32:36,872 [Wayne Lusardi] Are you pumping currently? 524 00:32:36,872 --> 00:32:38,039 [Isis Gillespie] No. 525 00:32:38,039 --> 00:32:39,249 - No. - Ok. 526 00:32:39,249 --> 00:32:40,375 - We just turned it off. - Ok. 527 00:32:40,375 --> 00:32:41,626 [Dr. Brian Smith] Ready for the engine? 528 00:32:41,626 --> 00:32:43,753 - We got it. - I got it. 529 00:32:43,753 --> 00:32:46,715 [Dr. Brian Smith] You go up, just a little bit. 530 00:32:46,715 --> 00:32:49,009 Alright, hold. 531 00:32:49,009 --> 00:32:54,014 [beeping] 532 00:32:56,099 --> 00:32:58,185 [Wayne Lusardi] Alright, nice and slow. 533 00:32:58,185 --> 00:33:00,145 [Isis Gillespie] Nice. 534 00:33:01,521 --> 00:33:03,481 [Wayne Lusardi] The laying out the plane like this today is 535 00:33:03,481 --> 00:33:07,152 an incredible visual opportunity to get a feel 536 00:33:07,152 --> 00:33:08,820 for how big this airplane is. 537 00:33:08,820 --> 00:33:11,198 It's hard to imagine it when you're underwater looking at 538 00:33:11,198 --> 00:33:14,201 just a little piece here and a little piece there and it's 539 00:33:14,201 --> 00:33:17,162 pretty impressive to kind of see it like this. 540 00:33:17,162 --> 00:33:19,289 This is the first time these artifacts have come together 541 00:33:19,289 --> 00:33:21,625 in this orientation since the airplane went apart 542 00:33:21,625 --> 00:33:24,711 79 years ago. 543 00:33:26,213 --> 00:33:29,132 This is the artifact that designed this entire airplane: 544 00:33:29,132 --> 00:33:31,384 the 37-millimeter cannon. 545 00:33:31,384 --> 00:33:33,637 It was mounted at the nose. 546 00:33:33,637 --> 00:33:36,264 It was also armed with 50-caliber machine guns 547 00:33:36,264 --> 00:33:37,766 on either side. 548 00:33:37,766 --> 00:33:40,227 And so with all of this stuff up in the forward fuselage, 549 00:33:40,227 --> 00:33:42,062 it was no room for the engine. 550 00:33:42,062 --> 00:33:45,315 So, the engine went back behind the pilot. 551 00:33:45,315 --> 00:33:47,400 And that was a very unique situation for a single-seat 552 00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:50,153 fighter aircraft at that time. 553 00:33:50,153 --> 00:33:53,114 [Dr. Brian Smith] It gives me pause to think this big, massive 554 00:33:53,114 --> 00:33:57,994 1200- pound engine, would actually fly in an airplane. 555 00:34:02,540 --> 00:34:06,086 [Narrator] But the P-39's had their limitations; 556 00:34:06,086 --> 00:34:09,631 they performed best at lower altitudes, 557 00:34:09,631 --> 00:34:11,299 better for strafing. 558 00:34:11,299 --> 00:34:15,512 [gunfire] 559 00:34:16,346 --> 00:34:17,639 [Lee Archer] They needed airplanes that would go 560 00:34:17,639 --> 00:34:21,059 further, and they got the 51. 561 00:34:21,059 --> 00:34:23,270 It could go further. It could go higher. 562 00:34:23,270 --> 00:34:26,523 It could fly longer. It could turn better. 563 00:34:26,523 --> 00:34:30,819 It had all of the agile traits of a fighter. 564 00:34:33,363 --> 00:34:36,116 [Harry Stewart Jr] When I got in the P-51 and I took it off, 565 00:34:36,116 --> 00:34:39,327 I fell in love with it, the first time I flew it. 566 00:34:39,327 --> 00:34:43,081 It was such a beautifully handling aircraft. 567 00:34:47,961 --> 00:34:49,379 [Matt Delmont] The Tuskegee pilots had a very specific 568 00:34:49,379 --> 00:34:50,797 role in combat. 569 00:34:50,797 --> 00:34:52,716 Their job was to accompany bombers on these 570 00:34:52,716 --> 00:34:54,509 targeted bombing runs. 571 00:34:54,843 --> 00:34:56,219 [Newsreel Narrator] Huge fleets of allied bombers 572 00:34:56,219 --> 00:34:58,930 protected by umbrellas of fighter planes, continue their 573 00:34:58,930 --> 00:35:02,767 all-out offensive upon Nazi war plants in Europe. 574 00:35:05,103 --> 00:35:08,315 [whistling] 575 00:35:12,068 --> 00:35:13,695 [James Harvey] The White fighter groups, they were 576 00:35:13,695 --> 00:35:17,866 averaging 46 bombers lost per mission. 577 00:35:17,866 --> 00:35:19,576 Per mission. 578 00:35:19,576 --> 00:35:22,120 That's a lot of people. 579 00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:23,330 A lot of people. 580 00:35:23,330 --> 00:35:26,166 That's why we got the job of escorting bombers. 581 00:35:28,960 --> 00:35:31,212 [George Hardy] Colonel Davis said, "don't leave the bombers. 582 00:35:31,212 --> 00:35:33,965 If that German fighter leaves, let him go and you stick with 583 00:35:33,965 --> 00:35:35,300 the bombers. 584 00:35:35,759 --> 00:35:38,053 There's ten men on each bomber airplane, only one man in that 585 00:35:38,053 --> 00:35:39,888 German fighter. 586 00:35:39,888 --> 00:35:42,474 We want to protect the bombers and bring those home. 587 00:35:45,727 --> 00:35:47,729 [Harold Brown] When we first started flying with them, 588 00:35:47,729 --> 00:35:50,398 they knew that there was a new fighter group that had joined: 589 00:35:50,398 --> 00:35:51,608 the Red Tails. 590 00:35:52,108 --> 00:35:55,195 They said who are these guys flying these damn Red Tails? 591 00:35:55,195 --> 00:35:57,322 These guys are with us all the way. 592 00:35:57,322 --> 00:35:59,824 By the way, who are these guys? 593 00:36:09,125 --> 00:36:10,502 [Matt Delmont] One of the things that happens after the 594 00:36:10,502 --> 00:36:12,170 Tuskegee Airmen get into combat is they start to 595 00:36:12,170 --> 00:36:14,172 receive media attention, not just from Black newspapers, 596 00:36:14,172 --> 00:36:16,341 but now from national newspapers. 597 00:36:16,341 --> 00:36:18,551 They say that they've mastered the art of aviation, 598 00:36:18,551 --> 00:36:21,388 that they're squashing Hitler's Aces like bugs. 599 00:36:21,388 --> 00:36:23,723 [gunfire] 600 00:36:25,684 --> 00:36:27,018 [James Harvey] It got to the point where they were 601 00:36:27,018 --> 00:36:28,978 requesting us. 602 00:36:28,978 --> 00:36:30,772 They wanted us. 603 00:36:30,772 --> 00:36:33,316 They didn't believe we were flying airplanes when we got 604 00:36:33,316 --> 00:36:37,362 over there, because the book said "no, they can't do that." 605 00:36:38,905 --> 00:36:39,739 [Newsreel Narrator] On a bombing mission over enemy 606 00:36:40,240 --> 00:36:43,410 territory, a fighter escort is a mighty comforting sight. 607 00:36:43,410 --> 00:36:45,620 This man thought it was plenty good enough. 608 00:36:45,620 --> 00:36:49,624 As far as he was concerned, this man could fly tough cover 609 00:36:49,624 --> 00:36:53,253 for him any day. 610 00:36:53,753 --> 00:36:55,547 [Harry Stewart Jr] When I was escorting the bombers, 611 00:36:55,547 --> 00:36:57,757 there were White guys in these planes here, 612 00:36:57,757 --> 00:36:59,551 they were just Americans there. 613 00:36:59,551 --> 00:37:01,511 We were all on the same team. 614 00:37:01,511 --> 00:37:04,264 That's what they were, and I never looked at them as being 615 00:37:04,264 --> 00:37:07,392 White or anything else. 616 00:37:07,392 --> 00:37:10,228 We were just team members. 617 00:37:13,022 --> 00:37:15,108 [Narrator] After their many successes in Europe, 618 00:37:15,108 --> 00:37:20,738 the Tuskegee Airmen were unstoppable. 619 00:37:22,824 --> 00:37:25,285 [James Harvey] Now, you may ask, who was the best? 620 00:37:25,285 --> 00:37:27,620 Depends on who's telling the story! 621 00:37:27,620 --> 00:37:29,205 [laughs] 622 00:37:29,205 --> 00:37:30,498 Right now, I am! 623 00:37:30,498 --> 00:37:31,750 [laughs] 624 00:37:37,839 --> 00:37:40,425 [♪ celebratory music] 625 00:37:40,425 --> 00:37:42,051 [Newsreel Narrator] Throughout the world, throngs of people 626 00:37:42,051 --> 00:37:44,846 hail the end of the war in Europe. 627 00:37:45,346 --> 00:37:46,848 [Matt Delmont] Victory Over Europe Day was a time of 628 00:37:46,848 --> 00:37:49,142 jubilation for Black Americans. 629 00:37:49,142 --> 00:37:52,270 [President Truman] The whole world must be cleansed of the 630 00:37:52,270 --> 00:37:56,316 evil from which half the world has been freed. 631 00:37:57,942 --> 00:37:59,652 [Matt Delmont] The hope that with the war over, they will 632 00:37:59,652 --> 00:38:01,446 finally be able to come back to the United States and start 633 00:38:01,446 --> 00:38:04,407 to see some of what they fought for come into reality. 634 00:38:06,075 --> 00:38:08,536 [William Holloman] I remember this for the rest of my life: 635 00:38:08,536 --> 00:38:11,748 we were coming down the gangplank, getting off the 636 00:38:11,748 --> 00:38:15,418 boat, they had a sign at the bottom of the gangplank: 637 00:38:15,418 --> 00:38:17,295 Whites to one side. 638 00:38:17,295 --> 00:38:19,214 Colored to the other side. 639 00:38:19,214 --> 00:38:23,676 And I said to myself, "This is some country." 640 00:38:29,557 --> 00:38:32,852 [Narrator] After the war, the Tuskegee pilots returned to 641 00:38:32,852 --> 00:38:38,525 segregated units, but their successes in Europe 642 00:38:38,525 --> 00:38:42,403 served as a rallying cry for change. 643 00:38:47,534 --> 00:38:48,952 [Matt Delmont] One of the first and most important 644 00:38:48,952 --> 00:38:51,538 civil rights milestones after the war was the signing of 645 00:38:51,538 --> 00:38:53,706 Executive Order 9981. 646 00:38:54,123 --> 00:38:55,542 [Newsreel Narrator] By Executive Order of President 647 00:38:55,542 --> 00:38:59,838 Harry S. Truman: integration of all military units. 648 00:38:59,838 --> 00:39:03,758 It will take time, but the policy was established. 649 00:39:04,968 --> 00:39:06,594 [Harold Brown] The more I thought about it, 650 00:39:06,594 --> 00:39:08,596 we really did something special. 651 00:39:08,596 --> 00:39:11,558 If we had not been as successful as we were, there is 652 00:39:11,558 --> 00:39:15,770 no way that Truman would have possibly made that move. 653 00:39:17,188 --> 00:39:18,648 [Matt Delmont] So, the military becomes integrated 654 00:39:18,648 --> 00:39:20,567 before most of corporate America, before most of 655 00:39:20,567 --> 00:39:21,442 higher education does. 656 00:39:22,068 --> 00:39:23,778 And so, it really provides one of the building blocks for the 657 00:39:23,778 --> 00:39:25,530 larger success of the Civil Right Movement 658 00:39:25,530 --> 00:39:28,241 in the 1950s and 60s. 659 00:39:29,367 --> 00:39:31,286 One of the troubling things that happens at the end of 660 00:39:31,286 --> 00:39:34,414 World War II is that the first wave of books that come out 661 00:39:34,414 --> 00:39:35,582 about the war, 662 00:39:35,582 --> 00:39:39,168 really write Black Americans out of the story. 663 00:39:39,168 --> 00:39:41,963 That's why it took so long before the service, 664 00:39:41,963 --> 00:39:45,174 the patriotism, the tremendous successes, and path-breaking 665 00:39:45,174 --> 00:39:48,303 work of the Tuskegee Airmen to come to the forefront. 666 00:39:52,473 --> 00:39:55,935 [Narrator] Now, Frank Moody's recovered P-39... 667 00:39:55,935 --> 00:39:57,729 [Wayne Lusardi] Hey, we'll swing around. 668 00:39:57,729 --> 00:40:02,483 [Narrator] Is adding a new chapter to the Airmen's stories. 669 00:40:02,483 --> 00:40:04,944 [Dr. Brian Smith] It's amazing that this gun isn't bent. 670 00:40:04,944 --> 00:40:06,571 [Wayne Lusardi] When we start to look at this and when we 671 00:40:06,571 --> 00:40:09,699 have this all kind of laid out here, we're starting to see a 672 00:40:09,699 --> 00:40:13,620 lot of damage that happened in the propeller blades. 673 00:40:13,620 --> 00:40:17,498 And you might think that that's just a rock hole or 674 00:40:17,498 --> 00:40:20,001 something that was damage as this artifact was sitting on 675 00:40:20,001 --> 00:40:22,503 the lake floor for the last eight decades, but when you 676 00:40:22,503 --> 00:40:25,548 start looking at the other two blades and they have identical 677 00:40:25,548 --> 00:40:29,093 holes in them, suddenly we're starting to see something 678 00:40:29,093 --> 00:40:32,513 here; a major problem that's going on with this aircraft. 679 00:40:33,181 --> 00:40:34,557 [Dr. Brian Smith] Synchronization, if you've ever 680 00:40:34,557 --> 00:40:36,184 gone to dance class and danced with a partner, 681 00:40:36,184 --> 00:40:38,770 you don't want to step on their toes. 682 00:40:38,770 --> 00:40:41,981 So, you would synchronize your steps, so that you always 683 00:40:41,981 --> 00:40:44,317 miss each other's feet. 684 00:40:44,317 --> 00:40:50,073 And this airplane had a synchronizer or an interrupter 685 00:40:50,073 --> 00:40:54,952 in the hub, which knew where the propeller blade was and 686 00:40:54,952 --> 00:40:58,581 would stop this gun from firing when the blade was 687 00:40:58,581 --> 00:41:00,708 in front of the gun. 688 00:41:00,708 --> 00:41:03,086 [Wayne Lusardi] In in a sense, the pilot's not actually 689 00:41:03,086 --> 00:41:04,253 shooting the gun. 690 00:41:04,879 --> 00:41:06,631 He's pulling the trigger, but then the airplane's deciding, 691 00:41:06,631 --> 00:41:09,676 right here, when that gun is actually firing. 692 00:41:09,676 --> 00:41:11,386 [Dr. Brian Smith] Yes. 693 00:41:11,386 --> 00:41:13,096 [Wayne Lusardi] When Lieutenant Moody pulled the trigger, 694 00:41:13,096 --> 00:41:15,640 the guns fired into the propeller blades and 695 00:41:15,640 --> 00:41:18,434 they created an entry hole and an exit wound. 696 00:41:18,434 --> 00:41:20,144 And that's the same, very consistent, 697 00:41:20,144 --> 00:41:23,064 on all three of these blades. 698 00:41:23,064 --> 00:41:25,608 [Dr. Brian Smith] If it was Frank Moody's fault, you know, 699 00:41:25,608 --> 00:41:29,529 due to pilot error or a collision with another aircraft, 700 00:41:29,529 --> 00:41:32,699 we would see other damage, especially in these blades 701 00:41:32,699 --> 00:41:35,118 that we're not seeing. 702 00:41:35,118 --> 00:41:37,704 [Narrator] The proof found in these blades serve as a 703 00:41:37,704 --> 00:41:42,500 testament to Frank Moody and his extraordinary journey. 704 00:41:43,084 --> 00:41:43,835 [Dr. Brian Smith] Amazing! 705 00:41:44,544 --> 00:41:46,254 [Narrator] In the end, it was the mechanical system 706 00:41:46,254 --> 00:41:47,839 that failed him. 707 00:41:47,839 --> 00:41:50,925 [Dr. Brian Smith] Now we can chronicle, highlight, and 708 00:41:50,925 --> 00:41:54,554 talk about his life and the importance of his life toward 709 00:41:54,554 --> 00:41:57,640 the war effort, toward fighting the Germans. 710 00:41:59,517 --> 00:42:01,519 [Matt Delmont] Artifacts like the plane help us make those 711 00:42:01,519 --> 00:42:04,939 jumps between scale in terms of how we talk about history. 712 00:42:04,939 --> 00:42:06,774 Frank Moody's story is one piece of the puzzle that helps 713 00:42:06,774 --> 00:42:09,777 to fill in our larger understanding of what America 714 00:42:09,777 --> 00:42:12,363 was like during World War II. 715 00:42:12,363 --> 00:42:13,990 And more than anything, it gives us an opportunity to 716 00:42:13,990 --> 00:42:16,159 help honor the service and sacrifices of 717 00:42:16,159 --> 00:42:18,536 those Black veterans. 718 00:42:19,662 --> 00:42:22,623 [Narrator] For years the Tuskegee Airmen pushed the 719 00:42:22,623 --> 00:42:25,293 boundaries of what was possible, 720 00:42:25,293 --> 00:42:27,503 distinguishing themselves in the air, 721 00:42:27,503 --> 00:42:32,925 while breaking barriers for Black Americans everywhere. 722 00:42:32,925 --> 00:42:35,261 [Matt Delmont] One of the through lines in Black history 723 00:42:35,261 --> 00:42:37,764 is Black people having to prove they could do things 724 00:42:37,764 --> 00:42:39,724 other people doubt that they could do. 725 00:42:39,724 --> 00:42:42,727 [James Harvey] Outside, the next day, then it all came back. 726 00:42:42,727 --> 00:42:44,896 Everything we did had to be perfect. 727 00:42:44,896 --> 00:42:47,231 Everything had to be perfect. 728 00:42:47,231 --> 00:42:50,193 That helped us and made us better pilots. 729 00:42:50,193 --> 00:42:52,945 That's why we were so good. 730 00:42:52,945 --> 00:42:55,948 What can I say? 731 00:42:55,948 --> 00:42:57,241 [laughs] 732 00:42:57,241 --> 00:42:59,577 They were trying to take us down the drain, 733 00:42:59,577 --> 00:43:01,996 and we said, no, no, no. 734 00:43:04,916 --> 00:43:07,627 [George Hardy] Well, it's a matter that we prove them wrong 735 00:43:07,627 --> 00:43:11,297 that we could do a job and that's about all you can do. 736 00:43:11,297 --> 00:43:14,634 But they'll always be some doubting Thomases, 737 00:43:14,634 --> 00:43:18,638 but we did the best we could. 738 00:43:24,852 --> 00:43:26,562 [Harry Stewart Jr] Well, that's it. 739 00:43:26,562 --> 00:43:28,147 That's it, we proved it. 740 00:43:28,147 --> 00:43:30,525 And that hangs on you when you feel as though that every day 741 00:43:30,525 --> 00:43:33,402 you have something to prove. 742 00:43:34,695 --> 00:43:37,406 [James Harvey] We showed them that yes, we can think. 743 00:43:37,406 --> 00:43:40,618 We can think under pressure, we can think all the time. 744 00:43:40,618 --> 00:43:44,622 We know how to do the job and get the job done, done right. 745 00:43:46,582 --> 00:43:48,668 [Harry Stewart Jr] I'm in the mood to fly that Cessna 746 00:43:48,668 --> 00:43:50,753 right now, you want to go up with me? 747 00:43:50,753 --> 00:43:52,046 [James Harvey] Ok. If I can get in! 748 00:43:52,046 --> 00:43:53,130 [laughs] 749 00:43:53,130 --> 00:43:54,257 That's my problem! 750 00:43:54,257 --> 00:43:55,550 [laughs] 751 00:43:55,550 --> 00:43:57,260 [Harry Stewart Jr] Ok! 752 00:43:58,761 --> 00:44:00,847 Captioned by Cotter Media Group.