Lt. Col. George Hardy, one of many authentic Tuskegee Airmen who flew in World Warfare II, has died at 100, the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. Nationwide Workplace announced on Friday.
Hardy was 19 when he flew his first fight sortie over Europe, the workplace stated. He was the youngest Crimson Tail fighter pilot to take action. He was stationed in Italy throughout World Warfare II and accomplished 21 missions.
The Tuskegee Airmen have been the primary Black servicemembers to function pilots within the U.S. navy. They served within the 99th Fighter Squadron and the 332nd Fighter Group, in addition to in help roles. Solely 13 documented authentic Tuskegee Airmen are nonetheless alive at this time, the workplace stated.
“His legacy is considered one of braveness, resilience, great talent and dogged perseverance in opposition to racism, prejudice and different evils,” the workplace stated. “We’re perpetually grateful for his sacrifice and can maintain expensive to his reminiscence.”
Hardy was born in Philadelphia in 1925, the Nationwide WWII Museum said in a news release. His older brother was a member of the U.S. Navy. Hardy wished to enlist, however his father refused to signal the mandatory paperwork due to the racial boundaries he feared Hardy would face, the museum stated.
Hardy joined the U.S. Military Air Forces in 1944 and was deployed to Europe in early 1945. Throughout missions, he typically escorted heavy bombers, the museum stated. In a 2014 interview with the museum, he recalled an incident the place his aircraft was strafed by enemy fireplace.
Hardy additionally served within the Korean Warfare and the Vietnam Warfare, the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. Nationwide Workplace stated. The museum stated he flew 45 fight missions within the Korean Warfare and 70 throughout the Vietnam Warfare.
When not abroad, Hardy earned a bachelor’s diploma in electrical engineering and a grasp’s diploma in programs engineering on the U.S. Air Pressure Institute of Know-how, the Nationwide WWII Museum stated. He labored with the Division of Protection on creating the primary worldwide navy phone system.
Hardy retired from the Air Pressure in 1971. In his retirement, he turned “a champion of the legacy” of the Tuskegee Airmen, the museum stated. In 2007, the regiment obtained the Congressional Gold Medal. In 2024, Hardy accepted the Nationwide WWII Museum’s American Spirit Award on behalf of the group. The award is the establishment’s highest honor and celebrated the airmen’s “accomplishments and patriotism within the face of discrimination.”
“Once I take into consideration the fellas who flew earlier than me and with me at Tuskegee, and the truth that we did show that we may do something that anybody else may do and it is paid off at this time,” Hardy stated, when accepting the award. “It is arduous to imagine that I am right here receiving this award—with them.”