Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Val Archer

Aired August 18, 2002 - 11:46   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: During World War II, 450 black men broke the color barrier to become fighter pilots and bombers and fly missions across Europe. They're known as the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African-American flying unit in the U.S. military. Their 31st annual national convention wraps up today in Atlanta, and we thought it would be nice to catch up with one of the youngest Tuskegee Airmen at 73. Mr. Val Archer, thank you very much for joining us. Appreciate it.
VAL ARCHER, ORIGINAL TUSKEGEE AIRMAN: Thank you. Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: It is so important during your conventions that you continue to talk about how to pass on the legacy, to try to recruit a lot of younger folks that are being mentored year round around the clock. When that mentoring takes place, to get more young men and women involved in the industry of aeronautical science, is it primarily to push toward military involvement, or is it commercial flights?

ARCHER: No, we're interested in involving young people in aviation and aerospace, and both military and commercial -- commercial aviation.

WHITFIELD: And how are you able to, you know, convey to these young people, who really don't understand the barriers that had to have been broken, how you all have been such trailblazers? How do you try to convoy that message, or do you try not to, you know, bog down too much on the history and try to help them look forward, or how do you communicate?

ARCHER: There's more focus is placed on future, future opportunities. History is important, very important, inasmuch as it provides a base for character development, and for role models, and for mentoring, of course. But it's important, especially for young black people, both men and women, to know that there are people who contributed to the history and to the development of this country, to not only to the economy and to the military, but in terms of what we've done after World War II, both in the military and as civilians.

WHITFIELD: There are 300 Tuskegee Airmen who are able to tell their stories now, after you were telling me the 960 original flyers, fighters, and bomber jets. Do you feel as though with the erection of a new museum that currently is already receiving some federal funding, and hopefully more to come, do you feel like that is going to be able to exemplify, you know, the legacy of all these airmen? ARCHER: It's definitely important, because it was the initial home for the 99th squadron...

WHITFIELD: At Tuskegee University.

ARCHER: At Tuskegee. It was known as Tuskegee Institute at that time.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, now university.

ARCHER: Yeah, now it's -- and also the moten (ph) field, which is where the pilots received their training their flight training, both the primary and advanced flight training took place there.

WHITFIELD: What are you hoping will be in that museum?

ARCHER: Well, hopefully, we'll have some restored aircraft. We'll have the hangars that were -- that are being restored. I would hope that there would also be an opportunity for different forums to take place there, where some of the senior airmen will come back and make presentations and discuss the history of the organization and the contribution that we made.

WHITFIELD: What kind of input are you hoping that -- you know, of the 300 or so surviving original Tuskegee Airmen would have on the completion of this museum?

ARCHER: Well, if we can impress the political decision makers, those people who do the appropriations for funding for it -- obviously that's critical. But there are people who are already engaged in that, in supporting the National Park Service program, to develop that. It's well under way, and work has already begun in restoring the hangar and developing other artifacts. And I think, hopefully, some of the original aircraft that we had, like the -- we should be able to reconstruct the P-40, and P-51s, which was the aircraft which was used to fly support missions for the -- I think the 15th Air Force and 8th Air Force during World War II. And some of the T-6 trainers, the advance trainers that the pilots used to develop their advanced training techniques.

I think it's a matter of, hopefully, to get hardware to be there, so that people can have a hands-on, touch and feel thing, but it's equally important, I think, to have people there who are knowledgeable about the history of the organization and propose some of the opportunities that are available, as contrasted at that time with what's available today.

WHITFIELD: And it's important to make it hands-on, too, isn't it?

ARCHER: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: So that particularly young kids can feel like -- this is real to me, this is something that, you know, a direction I would like to take. ARCHER: Yeah, in fact, some of us stress that we are the grandparents and the great grandparents of the coming generations, which at the convention, it was very wonderful to have second and third generation people there, and some of the wives who were -- and families, extended family members of some of the original guys. We don't call ourselves "original" anymore. That's not a great term. But as Chuck Dryden was found of saying, "we were the trailblazers, and we are passing the torch on to the torch bearers." So.

WHITFIELD: All right, Val Archer, thank you very much. Nice to meet you.

ARCHER: Thank you so much for having us. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. And where's next year's convention?

ARCHER: In Denver, Colorado.

WHITFIELD: All right. Look out, Denver.

ARCHER: Right.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks very much, Val.

ARCHER: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com