Woodrow Wilson Crockett (August 31, 1918 – August 16, 2012) ''(pronounced "Crow-Ket")'' was an officer in the

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 and a fighter pilot and interim commanding officer of the all-

African American 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 ...

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 100th Fighter 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".Caf Rise Above. "Woodrow Wilson Crockett." https://cafriseabove.org/woodrow-wilson-crockett/ He was one of the 1,007 documented Tuskegee Airmen Pilots. Crockett is well known as one of the first U.S. military pilots selected to fly at Mach 2 speeds on June 2, 1959.

Early life and family

Nicknamed "Woody" by his family, Crockett was born on August 31, 1918, in Homan, Arkansas, Miller County, Arkansas. Named after President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

, Crockett was the fifth child of six children to William Crockett and Lucindan Crockett, both school teachers. Crockett attended school in Homan until the eighth grade.UA LITTLE ROCK CENTER FOR ARKANSAS HISTORY AND CULTURE. "Woody Crockett: Mathematics to the Military (Crockett-1)." https://ualrexhibits.org/characters/mathematics-to-the-military-crockett-1/ After the eighth grade, Crockett moved to

Little Rock, Arkansas (The Little Rock, The "Little Rock") , government_type = council-manager government, Council-manager , leader_title = List of mayors of Little Rock, Arkansas, Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_ ...

to live with an older sister so that he could attend Arkansas' famed Dunbar High School, one of

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

' only high schools for African Americans. After graduating from Dumbar High School in 1939, Crockett attended Dunbar Junior College, majoring in

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

towards an eventual PhD. In 1940, Crockett left Dunbar College, no longer unable to afford tuition on a dishwasher's salary working 12 hours per day. Crockett was married to Daisy Juanita McMurray Crockett until her death in 2000. They had three daughters—Marcia Crockett, Rosemary Crockett, and Kathleen Crockett—and a son, Woodrow W. Crockett Jr.

Military career

Crockett enlisted as a private in the U.S. Army's all-African American 349th Field Artillery Regiment, serving as an artilleryman with serial number 0-798943.Encyclopedia of Arkansas. "Woodrow Wilson Crockett (1918–2012)." https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/woodrow-wilson-crockett-4017/ After reading a pilot recruitment flyer, Crockett transferred to the Tuskegee's pilot cadet training program in August 1942. On March 25, 1943, Crockett graduated as a member of Cadet Class SE-43-C, receiving his wings and commission as a 2nd Lieutenant. Crockett was assigned to the

's 100th Fighter Squadron. He was

' second citizen to graduate from Tuskegee's cadet program, Woodrow Crocket Flight Jacket

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 ...

, Crockett flew 149 missions within a 15-month span. In June 1944 during a mission, Crockett contemporaneously assumed command of the 100th Squadron after squadron commander Lieutenant

Robert B. Tresville Robert B. Tresville Jr. (May 9, 1921 – June 24, 1944) was an African American pilot who served in the original 332nd Fighter Group of the United States Army Air Forces, also known as the Tuskegee Airmen, during World War II. He was only the sev ...

and his plane crashed into the Mediterranean Sea; Tresville was later presumed missing in action and deceased. Fellow squadron pilot

Andrew D. Turner Andrew D. Turner (6 January 1920 – 14 September 1947) was an officer in the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) and a fighter pilot and commanding officer of the all-African American 332nd Fighter Group's 100th Fighter Squadron, best known as the all- ...

would assume permanent command of the 100th Fighter Squadron. Crockett flew 45 missions in the Korean war. Crockett was a member of the Twenty-fifth Air Division, and served at various U.S. Air Force bases. He served in many roles, including as a radiological safety officer, a flying safety officer, and a squadron commander. He was airborne during the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...

atomic bomb tests while serving on a B-17. Crockett graduated from the U.S.

Air Command and Staff College The Air Command and Staff College (ACSC) is located at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama and is the United States Air Force's intermediate-level Professional Military Education (PME) school. It is a subordinate command of the Air Uni ...

. In 1958, Crockett served as the F-106 Category II Test Program's assistant test director at

Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in California. Most of the base sits in Kern County, but its eastern end is in San Bernardino County and a southern arm is in Los Angeles County. The hub of the base is E ...

in Edwards, California. On June 2, 1959, Crockett was one of the first of several pilots selected to fly at Mach 2 speeds. He briefly served at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

) in Oslo, Norway. From 1960 to 1970, Crockett worked with

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...

to integrate the

Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the ter ...

. In 1970, Crockett retired with 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 ...

. He accumulated more than 5,000 flight-time hours and 520 combat hours.

Post-military career

In 1992, Crockett became the first African American to be inducted into the Arkansas Aviation Hall of Fame. In 1994, Crockett accompanied fellow Arkansan and then-President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

to attend 50th anniversary commemorative events of

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

. In 1995, Crockett was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame. In 2001, the

University of Arkansas at Little Rock The University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UA Little Rock) is a public research university in Little Rock, Arkansas. Established as Little Rock Junior College by the Little Rock School District in 1927, the institution became a private four-year ...

awarded Crockett an honorary doctorate. In 2007, Crockett, along with entire collective of

, received the Congressional Gold Medal, one of the United States' highest civilian honors.

Military awards

* Distinguished Flying Cross * Presidential Unit Citation * Soldier's Medal for bravery for extricating pilots from their burning fighter aircraft in 1944 in Italy * Soldier's Medal for bravery for extricating pilots from their burning fighter aircraft in 1953 in Korea *

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 four oak leaf clusters * Meritorious Service Medal * Army Commendation Medal * Air Force Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster.

Death

Crockett died from

Alzheimer's Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As t ...

on August 16, 2012, at the Knollwood military retirement community in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

McDonough, Megan
"Decorated Tuskegee Airman and Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Woodrow W. Crockett Dies."
''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', September 9, 2012. (accessed August 27, 2020) Both Crockett and his wife Daisy Juanita McMurray Crockett are interred at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

in Section 59 Site 31.

Legacy

Crockett's World War II flight suit is displayed at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crockett, Woodrow W. 1918 births 2012 deaths Tuskegee Airmen United States Army Air Forces officers Military personnel from Tuskegee, Alabama African-American aviators Military personnel from Arkansas People from Miller County, Arkansas 21st-century African-American people