Tuskegee Airman Edward Gleed with his P-51

Edward Creston Gleed (November 5, 1916 – January 25, 1990) was an U.S. Army Air Force officer with the famed Buffalo Soldiers/

9th Cavalry Regiment (United States) The 9th Cavalry Regiment is a parent cavalry regiment of the United States Army. Historically, it was one of the Army's four segregated African-American regiments and was part of what was known as the Buffalo Soldiers. The regiment saw combat du ...

332nd Fighter Group The 332d Expeditionary Operations Group is a provisional air expeditionary group of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command, currently active. It was inactivated on 8 May 2012 and reactivated 16 November 2014. The group forms part of ...

’s operations officer, and combat fighter pilot with the 99th Fighter Squadron, best known as the

Tuskegee Airmen The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of primarily African American military pilots (fighter and bomber) and airmen who fought in World War II. They formed the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Fighter Group, 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) of th ...

. He was one of the more prominent members of Tuskegee Airmen's ninth-ever aviation cadet program, as well as one of 1,007 documented Tuskegee Airmen Pilots. His classmates included Robert B. Tresville (May 9, 1921 – June 24, 1944),

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

's seventh African American graduate and the

100th Fighter Squadron The 100th Fighter Squadron (100 FS) is a unit of the Alabama Air National Guard 187th Fighter Wing located at Dannelly Field, Alabama. The 100th is equipped with the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II. The 100th FS was one of the Tuskegee Airm ...

's Commanding Officer. Gleed is well known for his P-51D Mustang aircraft, "The Creamer's Dream", which has been the subject of several famous, widely distributed photographs.

Early life, family, ties to First Lady Martha Washington, Robert E. Lee

Gleed was born on November 5, 1916, in

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70 in Kansas, Interstate 70, between the Kansas River ...

. He was the son of Herbert J. Gleed Sr. (1885–1965) and Carrie Syphax Joseph Gleed (1888–1943), a former home economics professor at

Tuskegee Institute Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU; formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute) is a Private university, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States. It was f ...

and scion of the powerful

Syphax family The Syphax family is a prominent Americans, American family in the Washington, D.C., area. A part of the African-American upper class, the family is descended from Charles Syphax and Maria Carter Syphax, Mariah Carter Syphax, both born into slave ...

, one of the most elite African-American families during the 19th century. Gleed's mother Carrie was the grandchild of Nancy Syphax, granddaughter of Maria Carter Syphax. Maria was the

mullato ( , ) is a racial classification that refers to people of mixed African and European ancestry only. When speaking or writing about a singular woman in English, the word is (). The use of this term began in the United States shortly a ...

daughter of

George Washington Parke Custis George Washington Parke Custis (April 30, 1781 – October 10, 1857) was an American antiquarian, author, playwright, and slave owner. He was a veteran of the War of 1812. His father John Parke Custis served in the American Revolution wi ...

First Lady of the United States First Lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is a title typically held by the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never been Code of law, codified or offici ...

Martha Washington Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (June 2, 1731 Old Style, O.S. – May 22, 1802) was the wife of George Washington, who was the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, she served as the ...

's grandson. Maria Carter Syphax's white half-sister through George, Mary Custis, was the wife of Confederate General and Washington and Lee President,

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a general officers in the Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War, who was appointed the General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate ...

. Gleed had one sibling, older brother Herbert Joseph Gleed, Jr. (1915–2006). After attending high school in Lawrence, Gleed attended and graduated from the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

. He also attended

Howard University School of Law Howard University School of Law (Howard Law or HUSL) is the law school of Howard University, a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is one of the oldest law schools in the country and the old ...

before departing for the

U.S. Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

. He was married to Lucille Elbertha Graves Gleed (1917–2004). They had three daughters: Elizabeth Gleed Ingersoll, Elaine Gleed Williams, and Carol Gleed Weaver.

Military career, Buffalo Soldier, Tuskegee Airmen

On February 8, 1941, Gleed enlisted in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

's famed Buffalo Soldiers/

Fort Riley, Kansas Fort Riley is a United States Army installation located in North Central Kansas, on the Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 101,733 acres (41,170 ha) in Ge ...

where he briefly served in military intelligence.The American Air Museum in Britain. "Edward Creston Gleed." http://www.americanairmuseum.com/person/241759 In 1942, the

reassigned Gleed to

Tuskegee, Alabama Tuskegee ( ) is a city in Macon County, Alabama, Macon County, Alabama, United States. General Thomas Simpson Woodward, a Creek War veteran under Andrew Jackson, laid out the city and founded it in 1833. It became the county seat in the same y ...

where he entered the Tuskegee Flight School's aviation cadet program. On December 13, 1942, Gleed graduated as a member of the Single Engine Section Cadet Class SE-42-K, receiving his wings and commission as a 2nd Lieutenant, service number 0-794598. His classmates included Robert B. Tresville (May 9, 1921 – June 24, 1944),

's seventh African American graduate and the

's Commanding Officer. The

assigned Gleed to the

, where he became its Operations Officer as well as the Squadron Commander for its

301st Fighter Squadron The 301st Fighter Squadron is a United States Air Force Reserve squadron, assigned to the 325th Operations Group, stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. It is an associate unit of the active duty 325th Fighter Wing. The squadron was ...

.CAF Rise Above. National Park Service, Museum Management Program Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site. "Edward Creston Gleed."https://cafriseabove.org/edward-creston-gleed/ He also served in leadership in the 477th Bombardier Group. On July 27, 1944, Gleed earned two official kills after shooting down two enemy German

Focke-Wulf Fw 190 The Focke-Wulf Fw 190, nicknamed ''Würger'' (Shrike) is a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank at Focke-Wulf in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Along with its well-known counterpart, the ...

during a German armament plant strafing mission near

Budapest, Hungary Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

.The Tuskegee Airmen: An Illustrated History, 1939–1949. Joseph Caver, Jerome A. Ennels, Daniel Lee Haulman. 2011. Publisher: New South Books. ISBN 9781588382443, 1588382443. Page 177. https://books.google.com/books?id=1qC51h8HrWQC&dq=edward+c+gleed&pg=PA177 For his heroics, the

awarded Gleed the Distinguished Flying Cross. He flew numerous bomber escort, patrol and strafing missions where he and his squadron destroyed bridges, oil refineries, supply dumps, and grounded aircraft. He is well known for his

P-51D Mustang Over twenty variants of the North American P-51 Mustang fighter were produced from 1940, when it first flew, to after World War II, some of which were employed also in the Korean War and in several other conflicts. Allison-engined Mustangs NA- ...

aircraft "The Creamer's Dream", which has been the subject of several famous, widely distributed photographs. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Gleed served in both the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

and the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. In 1947, the 332nd Fighter Wing at Ohio's Lockborne AFB was activated under Gleed's command, with the 332nd Fighter Group as a key component. In 1970, Gleed retired from the military as a full Colonel after nearly 30 years and 6,000 flying hours in the

and the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its origins to 1 ...

Post-military

After his retirement from the U.S. military, Gleed worked as a system program manager and chief administrator/contract negotiator for two defense contractors. In 1976 at the age of 60, Gleed graduated from Los Angeles, California's

Southwestern University School of Law Southwestern Law School is a private law school in Los Angeles, California. It is accredited by the American Bar Association and enrolls nearly 1,000 students. Its campus includes the Bullocks Wilshire building, an Art Deco National Register o ...

Death

Gleed died on January 25, 1990. He was 73. Gleed was interred at

Riverside National Cemetery Riverside National Cemetery (RNC) is a cemetery located in Riverside, California, dedicated to the interment of United States military personnel. The cemetery covers . It has been the most active cemetery in the system since 2000, based on the n ...

, Plot Section 43, site 1462, in

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. As of the 2020 census, the city has a population of 314,998. It is the most populous city in th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gleed, Edward C. Tuskegee Airmen United States Army Air Forces officers Military personnel from Tuskegee, Alabama African-American aviators Military personnel from Kansas Military personnel from California 1916 births 1990 deaths Syphax family

Early life, family, ties to First Lady Martha Washington, Robert E. Lee

Military career, Buffalo Soldier, Tuskegee Airmen

Post-military

Death

See also

References