Tuskegee Airman Dies At 99 Yrs Old- He Flew 142 WWII Combat Missions
YouTube / City of Irvine
Lt. Colonel Robert Friend has passed away at the age of 99 years old. Friend was a WWII pilot from the iconic Tuskegee Airmen.
The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of pilots both fighter and bomber who were all black formed the 332nd Fighter Group as well as the 477th Bombardment Group in WWII of the United States Army Airforces. They actually didn’t consist of just pilots but also nurses, mechanics, navigators, instructors and much more.
Karen Friend Crumlich, the daughter of the Lt. Colonel, told The Desert Sun that her father passed away on Friday at a SoCal hospital.Â
Born out of South Carolina, his service included 142 combat missions during WWII and also served in the Korean War and Vietnam. Post-service he formed his own aerospace company and even worked on space launch aircraft.
