SEYMOUR, Ind. — Neighbors came out to Freeman Municipal Airport in Seymour Saturday to honor the Tuskegee Airmen who helped integrate the armed forces in World War II.
"I don't think a lot of people know what led to the integration of the armed forces, and I think a lot of people in Indiana don't know that movement started right here," said Bryan Patrick Avery, whose grandfather flew with the Tuskegee Airmen and was stationed in Seymour during the war.
While America was fighting Axis forces abroad in the 1940s, Black Americans and other Americans of color were fighting their own battle with racism at home. It was a constant threat to even those minorities who served, but 77 years ago, more than 100 Tuskegee Airmen took a stand at Freeman Army Airfield.
"I think a lot of us don't realize the sacrifice that Americans have made for them to be free. At some point, there was a disconnect. We have to make that connection back again," said James C. Warren Jr., whose father was an airman. "Making that connection is what brought this large group here to the airport," Warren said Saturday afternoon.
In 1945, more than 100 Black officers at Freeman Field were arrested after trying to enter an all-white officers club and then later refusing to sign a regulation barring them from entering whites-only officers' clubs and facilities - something that was punishable by death at the time.
Avery's grandfather, Master Sgt. Harold Beaulieau, secretly captured the iconic moment in a photograph. The uproar led directly to the full integration of the armed forces of the United States.
Saturday the community honored the airmen's bravery by unveiling two bronze statues in their honor as part of the Freeman Army Airfield Museum.
"There's a lot of healing this nation has to do," said Avery. "It starts with telling the truth about certain things. This is a wonderful place where we are telling the truth about what happened and we can still come together and celebrate the brave men who participated in this."
The plan for the statues unveiled in Seymour started as an Eagle Scout project for Tim Molinari, who said it's so much more than that.
"It's an honor to be a part of preserving our nation's history and to honor the airman how they should be honored," he said. "What took place here in Seymour changed American history."
Koo Yuen played a big part in getting the project completed. He said the world deserves to know what happened there.
"I think the Tuskegee Airmen of 1945 are some of the most courageous military group of people. That's why we are able to honor them and cherish them and keep their legacy alive forever," said Yuen.
Avery said his family is humbled by the honor and that he couldn't be prouder of his grandfather and what this moment signifies.
"I think he would be extremely proud. I think he would be excited. I think he would be happy to know he played a small part in making a huge change in our country and that people are still gathering to celebrate it."
Saturday night, another Tuskegee Airman, Major Charles B. Hall was inducted into the Indiana Aviation Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Carmel. Hall was the first Black pilot to shoot down an enemy aircraft in combat in WWII.