Tuskegee Airman Edward Gleed with his P-51

Edward Creston Gleed (November 5, 1916 – January 25, 1990) was an

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 with the famed

Buffalo Soldier Buffalo Soldiers originally were members of the 10th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army, formed on September 21, 1866, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. This nickname was given to the Black Cavalry by Native American tribes who fought in th ...

9th Cavalry Regiment (United States) The 9th Cavalry Regiment is a parent cavalry regiment of the United States Army. It is not related to the 9th Kansas Cavalry Regiment of the Union Army. Historically, it was one of the Army's four segregated African-American regiments and was p ...

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 ...

’s operations officer, and combat fighter pilot with the

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

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 ...

. He was one of the more prominent members of Tuskegee Airmen's ninth-ever aviation cadet program, as well as one of 1,007 documented Tuskegee Airmen Pilots. His classmates included Robert B. Tresville (May 9, 1921 – June 24, 1944),

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

's seventh African American graduate and the

100th Fighter Squadron The 100th Fighter Squadron (100 FS) is a unit of the Alabama Air National Guard 187th Fighter Wing located at Dannelly Field, Alabama. The 100th is equipped with the General Dynamics F-16C+ Fighting Falcon. The 100th FS was one of the Tuskeg ...

's Commanding Officer. Gleed is well known for his P-51D Mustang aircraft, "The Creamer's Dream", which has been the subject of several famous, widely distributed photographs.

Early life, family, ties to First Lady Martha Washington, Robert E. Lee

Gleed was born on November 5, 1916, in

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...

. He was the son of Herbert J. Gleed Sr. (1885–1965) and Carrie Syphax Joseph Gleed (1888–1943), a former home economics professor at

Tuskegee Institute 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 de ...

and scion of the powerful

Syphax family The Syphax family is a prominent American family in the Washington, DC area. A part of the African-American upper class, the family is descended from Charles Syphax and Mariah Carter Syphax, both born into slavery. She was the daughter of an ens ...

, one of the most elite African-American families during the

19th century The 19th (nineteenth) century began on 1 January 1801 ( MDCCCI), and ended on 31 December 1900 ( MCM). The 19th century was the ninth century of the 2nd millennium. The 19th century was characterized by vast social upheaval. Slavery was abolis ...

. Gleed's mother Carrie was the grandchild of Nancy Syphax, granddaughter of

Maria Carter Syphax Maria Carter Syphax, otherwise spelled Mariah (1803 – ), was the matriarch of the Syphax family, a prominent family of African Americans in the greater Washington, D.C., area who became civic leaders, civil servants, and educators. She was born ...

. Maria was the mullato daughter of

George Washington Parke Custis George Washington Parke Custis (April 30, 1781 – October 10, 1857) was an American plantation owner, antiquarian, author, and playwright. His father John Parke Custis was the stepson of George Washington. He and his sister Eleanor grew u ...

First Lady of the United States The first lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is the title held by the hostess of the White House, usually the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never ...

Martha Washington Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (June 21, 1731 — May 22, 1802) was the wife of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, Martha Washington served as the inaugural ...

's grandson.

's white half-sister through George,

Mary Custis Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee (October 1, 1807 – November 5, 1873) was an American writer and the last private owner of Arlington Estate. She was the daughter of George Washington Parke Custis who was the grandson of Martha Dandridge Custis Wa ...

, was the wife of Confederate General and

Washington and Lee , mottoeng = "Not Unmindful of the Future" , established = , type = Private liberal arts university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.092 billion (2021) , president = William C. Dudley , provost = Lena Hill , city = Lexington ...

President,

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nort ...

. Gleed had one sibling, older brother Herbert Joseph Gleed, Jr. (1915–2006). After attending high school in Lawrence, Gleed attended and graduated from the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

. He also attended

Howard University School of Law Howard University School of Law (Howard Law or HUSL) is the law school of Howard University, a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is one of the oldest law schools in the country and the oldes ...

before departing for the

U.S. Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

. He was married to Lucille Elbertha Graves Gleed (1917–2004). They had three daughters: Elizabeth Gleed Ingersoll, Elaine Gleed Williams, and Carol Gleed Weaver.

Military career, Buffalo Soldier, Tuskegee Airmen

On February 8, 1941, Gleed enlisted in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

's famed

Fort Riley, Kansas Fort Riley is a United States Army installation located in North Central Kansas, on the Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 101,733 acres (41,170 ha) in Gear ...

where he briefly served in military intelligence.The American Air Museum in Britain. "Edward Creston Gleed." http://www.americanairmuseum.com/person/241759 In 1942, the

reassigned Gleed to

Tuskegee, Alabama Tuskegee () is a city in Macon County, Alabama, United States. It was founded and laid out in 1833 by General Thomas Simpson Woodward, a Creek War veteran under Andrew Jackson, and made the county seat that year. It was incorporated in 1843. ...

where he entered the Tuskegee Flight School's aviation cadet program. On December 13, 1942, Gleed graduated as a member of the Single Engine Section Cadet Class SE-42-K, receiving his wings and commission as a

2nd Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

, service number 0-794598. His classmates included Robert B. Tresville (May 9, 1921 – June 24, 1944),

's seventh

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 ...

graduate and the

's Commanding Officer. The

assigned Gleed to the

, where he became its Operations Officer as well as the Squadron Commander for its

301st Fighter Squadron The 301st Fighter Squadron is a United States Air Force Reserve squadron, assigned to the 325th Operations Group, stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. It is an associate unit of the active duty 325th Fighter Wing. The squadron was f ...

.CAF Rise Above. National Park Service, Museum Management Program Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site. "Edward Creston Gleed."https://cafriseabove.org/edward-creston-gleed/ He also served in leadership in the 477th Bombardier Group. On July 27, 1944, Gleed earned two official kills after shooting down two enemy German

Focke-Wulf Fw 190 The Focke-Wulf Fw 190, nicknamed ''Würger'' (" Shrike") is a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank at Focke-Wulf in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Along with its well-known counterpart, ...

during a German armament plant strafing mission near

Budapest, Hungary Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population of ...

.The Tuskegee Airmen: An Illustrated History, 1939-1949. Joseph Caver, Jerome A. Ennels, Daniel Lee Haulman. 2011. Publisher: New South Books. ISBN 9781588382443, 1588382443. Page 177. https://books.google.com/books?id=1qC51h8HrWQC&dq=edward+c+gleed&pg=PA177 For his heroics, the

awarded Gleed the Distinguished Flying Cross. He flew numerous bomber escort, patrol and strafing missions where he and his squadron destroyed bridges, oil refineries, supply dumps, and grounded aircraft. He is well known for his

P-51D Mustang Over twenty variants of the North American P-51 Mustang fighter were produced from 1940, when it first flew, to after World War II, some of which were employed also in the Korean War and in several other conflicts. Allison-engined Mustangs NA ...

aircraft "The Creamer's Dream", which has been the subject of several famous, widely distributed photographs. After

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 ...

, Gleed served in both the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

and the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. In 1947, the 332nd Fighter Wing at Ohio's Lockborne AFB was activated under Gleed's command, with the 332nd Fighter Group as a key component. In 1970, Gleed retired from the military as a full Colonel after nearly 30 years and 6,000 flying hours in the

and the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

Post-military

After his retirement from the U.S. military, Gleed worked as a system program manager and chief administrator/contract negotiator for two defense contractors. In 1976 at the age of 60, Gleed graduated from

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Southwestern University School of Law Southwestern Law School is a private law school in Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles. It is accredited by the American Bar Association and enrolls nearly 1,000 students. Its campus includes the Bullocks Wilshire building, an art deco National Register o ...

Death

Gleed died on January 25, 1990. He was 73. Gleed was interred at

Riverside National Cemetery Riverside National Cemetery (RNC) is a cemetery located in Riverside, California, dedicated to the interment of United States military personnel. The cemetery covers , making it the largest cemetery managed by the National Cemetery Administration ...

, Plot Section 43, site 1462, in

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gleed, Edward C. Tuskegee Airmen United States Army Air Forces officers Military personnel from Tuskegee, Alabama African-American aviators Military personnel from Kansas Military personnel from California 1916 births 1990 deaths Syphax family

Early life, family, ties to First Lady Martha Washington, Robert E. Lee

Military career, Buffalo Soldier, Tuskegee Airmen

Post-military

Death

See also

References