Red Tails: The Story of the Tuskegee Airmen

Aviation is one of those rare topics that has almost universal interest.  There is just something about the wonder of flight that intrigues just about everyone.  This may have been even more the case back in the World War II era when flying was a luxury for the rich, and a relative infant in the military.

Such was the case of the Tuskegee Airmen who had a passion for flying and an unflinching desire to serve their country in a time of war.  Much has been written and produced concerning these heroic men so I will leave the specifics of their actions to those who have undoubtedly done a better job than I ever could.

With the upcoming release of Red Tails, which details their story (trailer can be found below), I thought it would be appropriate to bring some attention to the previously released The Tuskegee Airmen (trailer also can be found below).  It was a great film done by HBO which also told this story.

The original film was a great historical representation of what these men went through as well as a small sampling of their heroic actions. It gives a nice perspective of who these men were and what they accomplished.

Going through a formal flying training program, as I currently am, is hard enough.  I cannot begin to imagine how much more difficult it would have been to also have to battle racial barriers that paid no attention to your abilities but simply the color of your skin.

Red Tails appears to be a little more “Hollywood”, CGI, and pyrotechnics than the original, but I sincerely hope that it will be a movie worthy of the men that it is based on.  I did find it to be a nice touch that Cuba Gooding Jr.  was cast into the current movie as he was in the original.

The official website for the movie provides a lot of great information about the movie that got me even more excited about its upcoming release.  The movie will be in theaters Jan. 20.

Red Tails Trailer

 

 

The Tuskegee Airmen Trailer