Willie Howell Fuller (August 2, 1919 – January 3, 1995) was a

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 ...

/ U.S. Air Force officer, combat fighter pilot, and combat flight instructor 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 ...

's 99th Pursuit Squadron, 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 ...

or "Red Tails". He was the first black flight instructor for the single engine planes at Tuskegee. He was the only black flight instructor until December 1944. He was one of 1,007 documented Tuskegee Airmen Pilots. He flew 76 combat missions. On August 5, 1942, Fuller graduated from the Tuskegee Advanced Pilot Cadet program as a member of the fifth-ever Cadet Class Single Engine Section SE-42-G. As he told ''

Boys' Life ''Scout Life'' (formerly ''Boys' Life'') is the monthly magazine of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Its target readers are boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 18. The magazine‘s headquarters are in Irving, Texas. ''Scout Life'' is pu ...

'': "Everybody figured that we could not fly and deliver under pressure. We wanted to prove that we could." He was later honored by the Dade County (FL) Aviation Department and Florida Memorial College as part of their Blacks in Aviation Celebration for his contributions to the aviation industry.

Early life

Fuller was born on August 2, 1919 in Tarboro, North Carolina. Educated in the Tarboro public schools, Fuller attended

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 ...

, graduating with a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Industries in 1942. Following his military service, Fuller married Willie (Billie) Dunson Fuller.

Military career

Curtiss P-40, ¾-front view, in flight (00910460 023)

Fuller received a certificate for military excellence, as a Cadet Second Lieutenant, in May 1940. He was a college student in December 1941, when

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

was attacked, and enlisted in the United States army shortly afterwards on March 16, 1942. On August 5, 1942, Fuller graduated from the Tuskegee Advanced Pilot Cadet program as a member of the fifth-ever Cadet Class Single Engine Section SE-42-G, 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 ...

. During

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 ...

, Fuller flew 76 combat missions, including combat over Sicily and Italy. Fuller flew with the 99th Fighter Squadron's mission to secure Pantelleria in 1943. He named his P-40 fighter "Ruthea" after his first wife. He earned the

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establish ...

with oak leaf cluster. In 1944, Fuller was transferred back to the United States, where he served as a flight instructor in Tuskegee Army Air Field's advanced single-engine flying school. Fuller and several of his fellow airmen posed with actress

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American dancer, actress, singer, and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years, appearing in film, television, and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of th ...

for a photo during her visit to Tuskegee. Fuller and several members of the 99th Fighter Squadron were invited to an upscale

Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...

hotel. The officer managing the event attempted to exclude Fuller from bringing his wife because the officer felt that only Fuller had earned fair treatment. The officer relented, and Fuller took his wife to the hotel. In 1947, Fuller was discharged from active military duty. He later became a Captain in the U.S. Air Force Reserves.

Awards

* Air Medal with oak leaf cluster * Congressional Gold Medal awarded to the Tuskegee Airmen in 2006 *He was honored in 1993 by the Dade County (FL) Aviation Department and Florida Memorial College’s Division of Airway and Computer Sciences for his contribution to aviation.

Post-military

After his service in the military, Fuller trained civilian pilots in North Carolina. Later, he and his wife moved to LaGrange, Georgia, where he created the first African American owned taxi cab company there. He also taught civilian pilots how to fly. By 1984, Fuller and his wife lived in Miami, Florida, having left Lagrange to work with the Boy Scouts in South Florida; he would serve as District Executive with the South Florida Council, overseeing scouting in Dade, Broward and Monroe Counties. He retired in 1982.

Death

Fuller died of a heart attack on January 3, 1995, at the age of 75. He was interred at the Monumental Garden South in Dade Memorial Park, Opa-locka, Florida.

References

Notes

External links

A Brief Moment in LaGrange's History: Tuskegee Airman Willie FullerCPT Willie Howell “Will” Fuller
at

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuller, Willie H. Tuskegee Airmen 1919 births 1995 deaths African-American aviators Aviators from North Carolina Aviators from Georgia (U.S. state) Aviators from Florida United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II