Living History Film Series: In Their Own Words: The Tuskegee Airmen

The Air Force Museum Theatre will kick off its 2016 Living History Film Series on Saturday, Feb. 20 with an event commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Tuskegee Airmen. Beginning at 4 p.m., the theatre will premiere In Their Own Words: The Tuskegee Airmen, a 90 minute documentary which tells the story of America’s first squadron of African American pilots. Complete with emotional interviews, rare photographs and computer-generated recreations, the film chronicles the Tuskegee Airmen story from the rocky start in 1941 to their acceptance of the Congressional Gold Medal in 2007. 2016 will mark the 75th anniversary of the inauguration of the U.S. Army Air Corps 99th Pursuit Squadron, the formation of the Tuskegee Airmen.

A panel discussion featuring Lt. Col. (Ret.) George Hardy, one of the youngest pilots of the Tuskegee Airmen, producer Bryan Williams, director Denton Adkinson and others associated with the project will follow the screening. Members of the Ohio Memorial Chapter will be in attendance, with the Tuskegee Airmen Show Car. The panel discussion will be filmed for use during the Theatrical Premiere of In Their Own Words: The Tuskegee Airmen, presented Fathom Events partnering with Bryton Entertainment which will take place on March 29 at approximately 150 theaters nationwide. This release commemorates Eleanor Roosevelt’s flight with Chief Flight Instructor Charles Anderson out of Moton Field in Tuskegee, Ala., in March 1941. Although the Tuskegee Program was three months old at the time of the flight, this action served to ignite a flame under the nation that “Blacks could fly!”

The theatre’s Feb. 20 event is the first of eight Living History Film Series events planned for 2016. The Series brings aviation history alive through films and guest speakers. The Living History Film Series is sponsored by Texas Road House and the Boeing Co. Tickets are available at the theatre’s ticket counter for $10 per film ($8 for Friends Members). Discounts for school or youth groups are available with advance reservations.

The theatre is operated by the Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc., a Section 501(c)(3) private, non-profit organization that assists the Air Force in the development and expansion of the facilities of the National Museum of the United States Air Force. For more information on the Air Force Museum Foundation, visit www.airforcemuseum.com. The Air Force Museum Foundation is not part of the Department of Defense or any of its components and it has no governmental status.

The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, is the world’s largest military aviation museum. With free admission and parking, the museum features more than 360 aerospace vehicles and missiles and thousands of artifacts amid more than 19 acres of indoor exhibit space. Each year about one million visitors from around the world come to the museum. For more information, visit www.nationalmuseum.af.mil.