Clarence Clifford “Jamie” Jamison (February 25, 1918 – March 6, 2014) was a

U.S. Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

officer and combat fighter pilot with the

332nd Fighter Group The 332d Expeditionary Operations Group is a provisional air expeditionary group of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command, currently active. It was inactivated on 8 May 2012 and reactivated 16 November 2014. The group forms part of ...

99th Fighter Squadron The 99th Infantry Division was formed in 1942 and deployed overseas in 1944. The "Checkerboard" or "Battle Babies" division landed at the French port of Le Havre and proceeded northeast to Belgium. During the heavy fighting in the Battle of the ...

, best known as the all-

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

Tuskegee Airmen 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 ...

, "Red Tails," or “Schwarze Vogelmenschen” ("Black Birdmen") among enemy German pilots. He was one of the first eight (8) African American combat fighter pilots. Jamison and Lt. Allen G. Lane became the first African American flying instructors at Tuskegee Army Air Field's P-40 transitional school.

Early life

Jamison was born on February 25, 1918, in

Little Rock, Arkansas (The Little Rock, The "Little Rock") , government_type = council-manager government, Council-manager , leader_title = List of mayors of Little Rock, Arkansas, Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_ ...

. Jamison's siblings included older brothers Sterling Jamison and Thurston Jamison, and younger siblings Rae Jamison, Alvin Jamison, and Richard Jamison. In 1923, Richard Sr. and Sallie moved five-year old Clarence and their oldest children to

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, leaving Clarence's grandparents, Edward Stewart and Callie Stewart, and the Clarence's younger siblings back in

. In 1924, the entire family reunited in

. Jamison attended

's Bolton Elementary School and Little Rock Central High School. After graduating from Central, Jamison attended the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

where he majored in pre-medicine and medical bacteriology, lived with an uncle in Chicago, and worked a part-time job as a bookkeeping machine operator. While at Chicago, Jamison pledged

Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never restricted membership on the basis of color, creed ...

fraternity's Iota chapter. Jamison was married to Phyllis L. Piersawl Jamison for 53 years until her death. They had two children: daughter Michal Jamison Offutt and son Clarence C. Jamison Jr. They had four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Military Career, World War II, Tuskegee Airmen

Interested in becoming a pilot, Jamison applied for the federal government-sponsored Civilian Pilot Training Program. In 1940, Jamison earned his civilian pilot's license, accumulating 72 hours of ground training and 50 hours of flight training. He soon applied for the U.S. Army Air Force's Tuskegee Army Air Field training program. Never receiving a response, Jamison wrote First Lady

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

, a staunch proponent of Tuskegee's program. Five weeks later, Jamison was accepted as a Tuskegee Army Air Field training program cadet, enlisting August 21, 1941. On April 29, 1942, Jamison graduated from the Tuskegee Advance Flying School (TAFS)'s Class Number SE-42-C - Single Engine Section. The U.S. Army Air Corps assigned Jamison to the 332nd Fighter Group's

. Jamison flew 67 combat missions in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

's European Theater including North Africa and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. In January 1944, Jamison led his squadron on a patrol mission where it encountered a massive formation of enemy German fighter planes attacking Allied ground positions. Outnumbered two-to-one, Jamison's squadron took the enemy head-on, shooting down five enemy aircraft. After

, Jamison continued to serve in the newly desegregated U.S. Air Force, including assignments as an accounting and finance officer. After 22 years in the U.S. Army Air Corps/ U.S. Air Force, Jamison retired in 1963 with the rank of

Lt. Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the army, armies, most Marine (armed services), marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use t ...

Post-Military Career

Jamison worked for the Social Security Administration, retiring after 23 years there.

Awards

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establish ...

with seven oak leaf clusters * Congressional Gold Medal awarded to Tuskegee Airmen in 2006

Honors, Book

* Tuskegee University awarded Jamison an Honorary Doctor of Public Service. * The City of Cleveland gave Jamison the key to its city. * President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

invited Jamison to attend Obama's January 20, 2009 inauguration. Jamison's life is described in the book, "Memories from Tuskegee: The Life Story of Lieutenant Colonel Clarence C. Jamison as told to James Christ."

Death

Jamison died on March 6, 2014, in

. He was interred at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

, Section 60, Site 10604.

References

External links

Clarence C. Jamison
on the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

Veterans History Project The Veterans History Project of the Library of Congress American Folklife Center (commonly known as the Veterans History Project) was created by the United States Congress in 2000 to collect and preserve the firsthand remembrances of U.S. wartime ...

. Links to images and an interview. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jamison, Clarence C. 1918 births 2014 deaths Tuskegee Airmen United States Army Air Forces officers Military personnel from Ohio 21st-century African-American people Burials at Arlington National Cemetery