On March 7th & 8th 2024, the 82nd Anniversary of the first graduating class of the Tuskegee Airmen aviation pilot cadets was commemorated in both houses of the Alabama State Legislature. Amelia A. Montgomery, widow of Tuskegee Airman Dabney N. Montgomery and lifelong member of Mother A.M.E. Zion Church shared her thoughts and comments on this history-making event with the Star of Zion.
The theme of the celebration was THE RETURN TO THEIR BEGINNING – TUSKEGEE AIRMEN FAMILY AND FRIENDS (TAFF) RELIVE HISTORY. Mrs. Montgomery, along with “ten sons and daughters and kindred members, sojourned to Tuskegee University and Moton Field in Tuskegee, Alabama for the celebration. Mrs. Montgomery said, “There were 13 aviation cadets in the first class; 8 ‘washed out’ before graduation, leaving 5 to receive their ‘wing’ pins on March 7, 1942.” One of the cadets to graduate was Captain Benjamin Oliver Davis, Jr., who earned the rank of Commanding Officer of the 99th Pursuit Squadron of the 332nd Fighter Group, attached to the 51st Fighter Wing of the Tuskegee Airmen. He was the commander of 16,000 Airmen and women, of which 996 were pilots. He led the fighter pilots through 1500 victorious missions that contributed to ending WWII. On December 9, 1998, Benjamin Oliver Davis, Jr. was promoted to four-star general.
Mrs. Montgomery also provided the event itinerary. On March 6, 2024, Lanell Roberts Brent and Amelia A. Montgomery appeared on WSFA and WAKA, the local TV News stations in Montgomery, AL., to discuss the 82nd anniversary and the donations of the Tuskegee Airmen’s artifacts.
On March 7, 2024, the Alabama State Legislature (The House of Representatives and the Senate), Montgomery, Alabama, invited the descendants and widows of Documented Original Tuskegee Airmen to their Chambers for the reading of a Resolution ‘CELEBRATING TUSKEGEE AIRMEN DAY ON MARCH 7, 2024.’ The seventh WHEREAS course of action states:
WHEREAS, the list of donated artifacts also includes a handwritten autobiography by DOTA Robert Olivia; DOTA Myron Wilson’s Class Book and Pilot’s Log Book; DOTA Wilson Wing’s; DOTA Wilson’s Airman’s Certificate from the United States Department of Commerce; DOTA Wilson’s Airman’s Rating Record; WWII German and American artillery shells from DOTA Dabney Montgomery; a two-foot Bronze Maquette Statue of DOTA Howard Baugh; WWII flight scarf of DOTA Spanky Roberts; and letters written by DOTA Spanky Roberts to his wife and parents while he was stationed at the Tuskegee Army Air Field and in Ramitelli, Italy; It acknowledges donations from four families of their Airmen’s WWII artifacts to be donated to the Tuskegee University Archives Project. The donors are Richard Baugh, son of Tuskegee Airman Howard Baugh; Lanell Roberts Brent, daughter of Tuskegee Airman George Spencer ‘Spanky’ Roberts; Rosanna Wilson Beaumont, daughter of Tuskegee Airman Myron Wilson; and Amelia A. Montgomery, widow of Dabney Montgomery.
The tenth and final WHEREAS course of action states:
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA that we take great pleasure in recognizing March 7, annually, as Tuskegee Airmen Day in the State of Alabama. We remember the great sacrifices made by the Tuskegee Airmen to secure our lives and our freedoms; by a copy of this resolution, we pay the highest tribute to these American heroes.
At the end of the Senate presentation, Senator Robert Stewart approached the podium to pay ‘tribute’ to Tuskegee Airman Dabney N. Montgomery. Senator Stewart is a native of Selma, AL., and a member of Clinton Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church, the same town and church as Dabney Montgomery.
Mrs. Montgomery (pictured w/Sen. Stewart) said she was “surprised and tearful” when both houses of the Alabama State Legislature sang “Happy Birthday” to her at the end of the session. Mrs. Amelia Montgomery was born on the same day – March 7th –as the first graduating class.
Keith Hargrove, PhD, Provost, and Amelia A. Montgomery also participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Tuskegee University, officially opening the Tuskegee University Archives.
On March 8, 2024, The Friends of Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, Inc., The National Park Service, Tuskegee University, Macon County Commission, and the City of Tuskegee hosted a “Tuskegee Airmen Day: Preserving an Extraordinary and Unparalleled Legacy” breakfast at Moton Field, Tuskegee, AL, the location where the Airmen received their pilot training. This fundraising effort goes toward building ‘A Wall’ memorializing the Tuskegee Airmen.
Mrs. Montgomery said, “Although this was an awesome celebration while standing in the Alabama Statehouse, in Montgomery, Alabama, I reflected on Mr. Montgomery telling me about the day he went to the Dallas County Courthouse, Selma, Alabama, after his discharge from the military in 1945, to register to vote and was denied.”
Tuskegee Airman Dabney N. Montgomery was born in Selma, Alabama, on April 18, 1923. He graduated from Livingstone College with a B.A. degree in Religious Education (May 1949) and received an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from Livingstone College in May 2015. Mr. Montgomery joined Mother A.M.E. Zion Church in 1955. He was affectionately called “Uncle Dab” and was a devoted member of Mother Zion until his passing on September 3, 2016. He was a civil rights activist and served as one of Dr. Martin Luther King’s bodyguards during the Selma to Montgomery March in 1965 for the right to vote. A few days later, President Lyndon Johnson signed into legislation the Voters’ Rights Act.
Mrs. Montgomery said, “Now, 79 years later, Mr. Montgomery and his fellow Airmen and women are revered by the Alabama State Lawmakers – proclaiming March 7, annually, as ‘TUSKEGEE AIRMEN DAY,’ throughout the State of Alabama. Who knew? Better late than never.”
Amelia A. Montgomery is a member of the Claude B. Govan Tri-State Chapter, TAI, Heritage-Kindred Committee, TAI, and Tuskegee Airmen Family and Friends (TAFF).
