2nd Lt. Alfred M. Gorham (1920–2009) was a

Tuskegee Airman The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of primarily African American military pilots (fighter and bomber) and airmen who fought in World War II. They formed the 332d Fighter Group and the 477th Fighter Group, 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) of the ...

from Waukesha, Wisconsin. He was the only Tuskegee Airman from Wisconsin, and he was a prisoner of war after his plane went down over Munich, Germany in World War II.

Military service

After joining the Army Air Force in 1942 Gorham became a pilot with the Tuskegee Airmen. He graduated from the

Tuskegee University Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was d ...

February 8, 1944. He saw action over Budapest Hungary and shot down two German Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Fighters on August 3, 1944. In 1945 his P-51 had engine trouble over Munich, Germany and he bailed out. He was captured and held by the Germans until the end of the war.

Awards

* Purple Heart * Prisoner of War Medal * Congressional Gold Medal awarded to Tuskegee Airmen in 2006

Personal life

After graduating from Waukesha High School in 1938 Gorham was accepted to

Carroll College Carroll College is a private Catholic college in Helena, Montana. The college has 21 buildings on a 63-acre campus, has over 35 academic majors, participates in 15 NAIA athletic sports, and is home to All Saints Chapel. The college motto, in L ...

. However he took a job as a precision tool grinder. He later enlisted in the army and eventually he was accepted to the Tuskegee Airmen.

References

Notes

External links

Fly Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwing ...

(2009 play about the 332d Fighter Group)
Tuskegee Airmen
at

Tuskegee Airmen Archives
at the University of California, Riverside Libraries.
Tuskegee Airmen, Inc.

(

U.S. National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properties ...