John William Mosley Jr. (June 21, 1921 – May 22, 2015) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player and combat bomber pilot in the

United States Army Air Forces 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 ...

, notably, 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 ...

. Mosley was the first African American to play on the

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

football team. He also became one of the first

African Americans 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 ...

to be trained as a bomber pilot during World War II.

Early life and education (1921–1943)

Born June 21, 1921, in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, John William Mosley was the son of a Cripple Creek silver rush settler. He spent his early educational career at Whittier Elementary School, Cole Junior High School, and Manual Training High School. While attending Manual, he played football and wrestled. He was also the

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...

, and earned the

National Merit Scholarship The National Merit Scholarship Program is a United States academic scholarship competition for recognition and university scholarships administered by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), a privately funded, not-for-profit organizati ...

. John W. Mosley enrolled at the Agricultural College of Colorado (now

) in 1939. At the time the college had only eight African American students, none of whom were allowed to live on campus. Mosley later joined the football team under coach

Harry W. Hughes Harry Walker Hughes (October 9, 1887 – July 26, 1953) was an American football player, coach of football, basketball, baseball, and track, and college athletics administrator. From 1911 to 1941, he served as the head football coach and athletic ...

in 1940, and became the first African American on the football team at Colorado State University in Fort Collins in the record keeping era. He often faced discrimination from his white teammates. For example, during try-outs some players purposefully hit him very hard to discourage him from joining the team. He did, however, win several players over, making two very good friends in Dude Dent and Woody Fries. In the same year, Mosley expressed an interest in wrestling, and also joined the wrestling team under coach Julius Wagner. By joining the team, Mosley became the first African American wrestler at Colorado State University. He also became the first African American to earn an athletic letter in Colorado State University football team history. Additionally, he broke the color barriers of the field when he was elected class vice president in both his junior and senior years.

Career (1943–1970)

While he was at college, Mosley had an interest in becoming a pilot, paying for his own flight lessons and physical exam. Mosely received a physical in Denver and was diagnosed with a heart murmur, which he believed to be false. Mosley wanted to join the

after he graduated college. After graduation, Mosley was drafted into a segregated Army Artillery unit stationed at

Fort Sill Fort Sill is a United States Army post north of Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles (136.8 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. It covers almost . The fort was first built during the Indian Wars. It is designated as a National Historic Landmark ...

, Oklahoma. While at Fort Sill, he began to write many letters to command and Washington, D.C. requesting to be reassigned to the Tuskegee Airmen. Eventually, these letters resulted in his reassignment. He trained as a bomber pilot, one of the first African Americans to do so. He served with distinction 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 ...

and earned the rank of Command Pilot. He chose to return to the states as a civilian in 1946 to earn his master's degree in Social Work from the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...

in 1948. Soon afterwards he returned the service and fought in the Korean and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

Wars, where he also earned the rank of

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

. Mosley also flew during the

Berlin Airlift The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road ...

. He finally retired from the United States Air Force in 1967. After retirement from the Air Force he moved on to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Mosley was a strong activist. During his time as a Tuskegee airmen, he was advocating for his rights and others to serve in the armed forces. His role was to integrate the military and armed forces through the civil rights activities that took place in the United States. Mosley used his motivation and determination to fight for integration in the Armed forces. People would ask him why he wasn't bitter about his rights in the Armed forces. Mosley was a part of a movement to prove that he was capable of making a contribution to the development of our great nation. After being in the Tuskegee Airmen, John Mosley joined the Federal government to continue being a civil rights activist. He later married his high school friend Edna Wilson-Mosley, a prominent politician, civil rights activist, and educator. Both of them remained active in a number of professional and community organizations to help the African American community gain equal rights. John Mosley served as a special assistant to the undersecretary in the Department of Health and Human Services when he and his wife moved to Aurora Colorado and was transferred to the Lowry Air Force Base. His wife became the first African American lady to become a city councilwomen in Aurora. He worked in a variety of positions including Equal Opportunity Specialist, Staff Director of the Mountain Plains Federal Regional Council and Special Assistant to James Farmer, Assistant Secretary of Administration.

Legacy

John Mosley Student-Athlete Leadership Program

At Colorado State University, many refer to John Mosley as the

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line ...

of CSU athletics. In 1998 Mosley was inducted into the CSU Sports Hall of Fame, and in 2009 he was admitted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. Through a collaboration between CSU's Athletics department and the university's Black/African American Cultural Center, the John Mosley Mentoring Program was established during the 2011–2012 academic year at Colorado State University. The goals of the mentoring program are "to reduce the percentage of academic probation rates, to increase retention rates to matriculation, ndexpose tudent-athletesto positive African-American role models who have been through the rigors of academic achievement as a student-athlete and who have earned their degree". While mentorship remains an essential component to the success of the program, the program underwent a name change in 2014, becoming the John Mosley Leadership Program (JMLP). The four guiding principles of the JMLP are a) self-exploration. b) community engagement, c) transitional growth and leadership, and d) mentorship. JMLP Gathering

Mosley received numerous awards such as the Anti-Defamation League Torch of Liberty award, an honorary doctorate from CSU as well as the Congressional Gold Medal by then President Bush. In 2021, the Aurora, Colorado office of the Department of Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic was renamed the Lieutenant Colonel John W. Mosley Clinic by an act of the U.S. Congress.

Mile High Flight Program Tuskegee Airmen Inc.

During the second World War, John W. Mosley tried to join the air camp of the United States Tuskegee Airmen is not just a flight school to learn how to fly but also a great motivator for anybody with a dream that is never too big. Mosley and his flight crew gave many motivational tendencies to young minorities to inspire them to go out and be who they want to be no matter the fight within the fight.

John and Edna Mosley Scholarship Fund

After years of serving the community, friends and community members raised money to present to the Mosley's to allow them to go on vacation abroad to enjoy themselves. The community raised thousands of dollars to honor and show thanks to the Mosley's philanthropy throughout the years. The Mosley's instead had a different plan for this money: they agreed to accept the money raised, if only they could start a scholarship fund with it, instead of a vacation for themselves. Since its start in 2002 this scholarship fund has helped numerous African American students from the Denver-Metro area, equaling in $28,000 worth of scholarship dollars given to the recipients. The requirements for this scholarship include: one must be African American, have a desire to further their education in a University, College or another accredited post-secondary school and must have accumulated a GPA of 2.5 of higher. This scholarship fund looks for students who take charge of their lives to better them, such as maintaining good grades and having leadership roles, once the finalist are accepted the scholarship board will then hold interviews to ensure that the Mosley scholarship is awarded to the perfect candidate to honor the Mosley's. This scholarship fund is now the largest and oldest community fund in the entire state of Colorado. Following his death, the Mosley family asked the public to please not send the family flowers, but instead donate a dollar to his scholarship fund to honor one of his life goals to help African American students achieve their full potential in post-secondary education.

Edna and John W. Mosley Elementary School

Due to the impact that John W. Mosley as well as his wife Edna had in the Aurora Community, Aurora's Mayor, Steve Hogan, decided to dedicate a school to the individuals. The school, Edna and John W. Mosley P-8, opened on October 1, 2015, near Airport Boulevard and 2nd Avenue in Aurora, Colorado. Currently, it is occupying more than 900 students.

References

*http://www.coloradoaggies.com/SpecialFeature.html *http://www.coloradoaggies.com/Hughesp2.html

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mosley, John 1921 births 2015 deaths Players of American football from Denver Colorado State Rams football players Tuskegee Airmen United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II United States Army Air Forces officers Aviators from Colorado African-American aviators 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople