Eugene B. Jackson (June 26, 1923 – September 20, 2015) was a mechanic in the

United States 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 ...

who served with 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 ...

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 ...

Early life

Jackson was born into one of the oldest black families in

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...

in 1923. Growing up, he was the only black student in his elementary school of more than 350 and one of only twelve of the 1000 in his class at Portland High School, from which he graduated in 1941.

Military service

Jackson originally tried to join the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

, as many Americans had done prior to the United States' entry into the war, but was told to try in the US first. He joined the Army Air Force in 1942. It was at this point, Jackson later claimed, that he first began to experience discrimination or intolerance based on his race. Jackson first went to

Fort Devens Fort Devens is a United States Army Reserve military installation in the towns of Ayer and Shirley, in Middlesex County and Harvard in Worcester County in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Due to extensive environmental contamination it was li ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

after joining up, but was almost immediately sent, along with all the other black recruits, to Tuskegee,

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

. Over the course of the following two years, he traveled across the United States to receive mechanical and aircraft instrument instruction, sparing him some of the worst example of racism acted upon the Tuskegee Airmen who remained in Alabama for the whole of their training. Jackson was stationed in Italy and North Africa beginning in 1944 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 ...

and followed them to mainland Europe after the Normandy invasion. For the duration of the war he was responsible for maintaining the groups' fighter plane radios and communications equipment. He was discharged at the end of the war but trouble finding a job as a black airplane mechanic in the civilian world led him to rejoin the military for a short time in 1950.

Post-War

After leaving the military, Jackson worked as a machinist and on respiratory equipment for some time. He moved to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

briefly and then to

Marshfield, Massachusetts Marshfield is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, on Massachusetts's South Shore. The population was 25,825 at the 2020 census. It includes the census-designated places (CDPs) of Marshfield, Marshfield Hills, Ocean Bluf ...

and enrolled at Boston University as an engineering graduate. While there he met his future wife, Constance (Cordice) Jackson, a teacher in the public school system.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Eugene B. Tuskegee Airmen 1923 births 2015 deaths Military personnel from Portland, Maine African-American history of Maine Boston University College of Engineering alumni Aviators from Maine African-American aviators Portland High School (Maine) alumni United States Army Air Forces soldiers United States Air Force airmen 21st-century African-American people