George S. "Spanky" Roberts (September 24, 1918 – March 8, 1984) was a U.S. Army Air Force officer and fighter pilot with the 99th Pursuit Squadron (later 99th Fighter Squadron) and the former commander of the 332nd Fighter Group, best known as the Tuskegee Airmen. Roberts was the one the first five African American US military combat fighter pilots in history and was also the first African-American US military pilot from West Virginia. Being among the first five to graduate, they "drew the most sustained attention from the press and the black community as a result." Roberts was also the first African American U.S. Air Force officer to command a racially-integrated unit, achieving this historic milestone at

Langley Air Force Base Langley Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in Hampton, Virginia, adjacent to Newport News, Virginia, Newport News. It was one of List of airfields of the Training Section of the United States Army Air Service, thirty-two ...

in 1950.

Early life and family

Roberts was born on September 24, 1918 in

London, West Virginia London is an unincorporated community in Kanawha County in the U.S. state of West Virginia, located 25 miles from the state capital of Charleston. London Lock and Dam, operated by US Army Corps of Engineers is located here on Kanawha River. Loca ...

Kanawha County Kanawha County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 180,745, making it West Virginia's most populous county. The county seat is Charlest ...

. Raised in

Fairmont, West Virginia Fairmont is a city in and county seat of Marion County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 18,313 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Fairmont Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Marion County, a ...

- Marion County, he was the son of Spencer Roberts and Estella Roberts. In 1934, Roberts graduated from

Dunbar School (Fairmont, West Virginia) Dunbar School is a historic school building located in Fairmont, Marion County, West Virginia. It was built in 1928, and the first classes were held in January 1929. The school was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2015. Histo ...

. In 1938, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in mechanical arts from the

historically black college and university Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. Mo ...

West Virginia State College (now West Virginia State University). Roberts married Edith Norle McMillan (1919–2015) literally minutes after his graduation from the Tuskegee aviation cadet training program ceremony. Fellow cadet graduate Mac Ross served as Roberts' best man.

Military Career, Tuskegee Airmen

Prior to attending Tuskegee, Roberts obtained his pilot's license in the Civilian Pilot Training Program. In July 1941, Roberts was the first cadet accepted into the U.S. Army Air Corps' aviation cadet training program with the Tuskegee Airmen's first class of aviation cadets, Class 42-C-SE, on March 7, 1942 Roberts graduated from aviation cadet training with Captain

Benjamin O. Davis Jr. Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr. (December 18, 1912 – July 4, 2002) was a United States Air Force (USAF) general and commander of the World War II Tuskegee Airmen. He was the first African-American brigadier general in the USAF. On December 9, 1998, h ...

, future Tuskegee Airmen Commander and future U.S. four-star general; 2nd Lt.

Charles DeBow Charles DeBow (February 13, 1918 – April 4, 1986) was an officer in the U.S. Army Air Force and combat fighter pilot and commanding officer of the 332nd Fighter Group's 301st Fighter Squadron, best known as the prodigious, all-African American ...

Jr.(Feb 13, 1918 – April 4, 1968); 2nd Lt. Mac Ross (1912-1944), and 2nd Lt.

Lemuel R. Custis Lemuel Rodney Custis (June 4, 1915 – February 24, 2005) was a U.S. Army Air Force officer, combat fighter pilot and Squadron Operations Officer with the 332nd Fighter Group's 99th Fighter Squadron, best known as the Tuskegee Airmen.Caf Rise Abov ...

(1915 – 2005). During World War II, Roberts was assigned to 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 ...

's 99th Fighter Squadron, becoming its first African American commander on June 1, 1942. His squadron served in both North Africa and Italy. He also commanded the entire 332nd Fighter Group before Benjamin O. Davis. After World War II, Roberts served as the senior Air Corps ROTC instructor at Tuskegee Institute. In 1950, Roberts became the first African American U.S. Air Force officer to command a racially-integrated unit at

. Roberts served during the Korean War, and was stationed in Okinawa. In 1963, Roberts served at Griffiss Air Force Base, managing the U.S. Air Force's ground radar troops. He also served at McClellan Air Force Base. In 1968, Roberts retired from the U.S. Air Force as a Colonel. Across his entire career, Roberts flew over 100 missions in the Middle East, Africa and Europe. As a civilian, Roberts worked as a credit officer, training officer, and personal banking officer at Wells Fargo in Sacramento, California. He retired from Wells Fargo in 1982.

Death

Roberts died on March 8, 1984 in Sacramento, California at the age of 65. He was interred at Mount Vernon Memorial Park in Fair Oaks, California.

Legacy

The memorial bridge in Robert's hometown of

was renamed to honor Roberts.

Awards

* Air Force

Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fifth ...

with four oak clusters * Two Presidential Citations

References