Lincoln T. Hudson (March 12, 1916 – September 26, 1988) was a U.S. Army Air Force officer, World War II fighter pilot, Prisoner of War in Nazi Germany, and a corporate executive. During World War II, Hudson served in the all- African-American

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 301st Fighter Squadron, best known as the all- African American combat fighter pilot group, the Tuskegee Airmen, "Red Tails," or among enemy German pilots, “Schwartze Vogelmenschen” ("Black Birdmen"). Hudson served as Senior Vice President of Advertising at Johnson Publishing Company, publishers of the historic African American circulars, Ebony Magazine and Jet Magazine founded by businessman

John H. Johnson John Harold Johnson (January 19, 1918 – August 8, 2005) was an American businessman and publisher. Johnson was the founder in 1942 of the Johnson Publishing Company, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Johnson's company, with its ''Ebony' ...

Early life

Hudson was born on March 12, 1916, in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. He was the son of a Methodist minister who traveled to various congregations in the Southern United States. Hudson graduated from high school in Louisiana. After moving to Chicago in 1933, Hudson sold hair care products door-to-door for the C.W. Smith Company, an African-American-owned Chicago wholesaler. Hudson also sold insurance and worked in a butcher shop. Married to Chestine Hudson, Hudson had three children: son Lincoln Jr. son Chester, and daughter, Crystal. Until his death in 1988, Hudson was a longtime resident of Chicago's Chatham neighborhood.

Military service

On June 27, 1944, Hudson graduated from Tuskegee pilot cadet training program's Class 44-F-SE, receiving his wings and commission as a 2nd Lieutenant. During official leave, Hudson and fellow Tuskegee Airmen

Harold Brown (Tuskegee Airman) Harold H. Brown (August 19, 1924 – January 12, 2023) was a U.S. Army Air Force officer who served during World War II as a combat fighter pilot with the 332nd Fighter Group, best known as the Tuskegee Airmen. Brown's P-51C aircraft was shot ...

would borrow military planes on the weekend, flying them to Chicago to visit Hudson's wife and to enjoy the city of Chicago.Serving Our Seniors EC. "POW Capture, Volume 2." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgSVQDwDwek. Jan 8, 2014. Assigned to the

's 301st Fighter Squadron, Hudson flew 20 missions during World War II.

Prisoner of War in Nazi Germany

On the afternoon of March 23, 1945, Hudson's P-51 Mustang experienced engine failure after losing oil. Bailing from his damaged aircraft, Hudson parachuted over eastern Czechoslovakia. After capturing Hudson northeast of Vienna, Austria, at coordinates, 4842N, 1655E, the German military transported Hudson to a prisoner of war (

POW A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...

) camp at Nuremberg-Langwasser (south of Nuremberg, Germany). The Germans interrogated, severely tortured and beat Hudson, almost beyond recognition. Fellow Tuskegee Airman Harold Brown, captured and sent to Nuremberg-Langwasser a week earlier, recalled barely recognizing Hudson. The Germans later transferred Hudson to the multinational Stalag VII-A (in full: ''Kriegsgefangenen-Mannschafts-Stammlager VII-A''), the largest prisoner-of-war camp in Nazi Germany. On April 29, 1945, General

George Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...

and his Third Army liberated Hudson, Harold Brown and approximately 76,000 other POWs as Patton's tanks and troops rolled through Stalag VII-A.

Awards and honors

* Congressional Gold Medal Awarded to Tuskegee Airmen in 2006

Post-World War II, Ebony and Jet Magazines

In 1946, Hudson received an honorable discharge from the U.S. Army Air Corps. In 1951, he enrolled at

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Cathol ...

, graduating with a degree in business. After some graduate work at the University of Chicago in November 1952, Hudson became an advertising salesman with

Johnson Publishing Johnson Publishing Company, Inc. (JPC) was an American publishing company founded in November 1942 by African-American businessman John H. Johnson. It was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. JPC was privately held and run by Johnson until his dea ...

, the publishers of the historic Ebony Magazine and Jet Magazine. Hudson rose up the ranks at Johnson Publishing as Midwest advertising manager, Vice President of Advertising, and finally Senior Vice President. In the late 1950s, Hudson closed a lucrative advertising contract between Johnson Publishing and

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...

, one of the first U.S. automobile companies to advertise in an African American publication.

Death

Hudson died on September 26, 1988, in Chicago, Illinois. He was interred at Lincoln Cemetery in Blue Island, Illinois, in Cook County.

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hudson, Lincoln T 1916 births 1988 deaths Tuskegee Airmen United States Army Air Forces officers Military personnel from Tuskegee, Alabama African-American aviators Military personnel from Chicago