Lt. Roger "Bill" Terry (August 13, 1921 – June 11, 2009) from

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

was one of 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 served in 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 ...

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 ...

. He was dishonorably discharged after the

Freeman Field Mutiny The Freeman Field mutiny was a series of incidents at Freeman Army Airfield, a United States Army Air Forces base near Seymour, Indiana, in 1945 in which African American members of the 477th Fighter Group#Lineage, 477th Bombardment Group attempt ...

Early life

Terry was from Los Angeles, California. Terry graduated from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

where his roommate was the baseball player

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first Black American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the Baseball color line, ...

. Both Terry and Jackie Robinson would go on to be court-martialed for resisting segregation in the

U.S. Armed forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. U.S. federal law names six armed forces: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and the Coast Guard. Since 1949, all of the armed forces, except th ...

Career

Terry joined the Tuskegee Airmen after graduating from UCLA in 1941. In February 1945 he graduated flight school and had the rank of 2nd Lieutenant. The

Whites only Racial segregation is the separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Segregation can involve the spatial separation of the races, and mandatory use of different institutions, such as schools and hospitals by people ...

officer's club was much better than the one afforded to the black officers. Terry and over 100 black officers were determined to integrate the white officer's club. A man who would go on to become Detroit's first black mayor Lt. Coleman Young was also one of protestors.

Freeman Field Mutiny

Freeman Field : ''For the civil use of this facility after 1946, see Freeman Municipal Airport '' Freeman Army Airfield is an inactive United States Army Air Forces base located in south-southwest of Seymour, Indiana. Established in 1942, the base became t ...

in 1945, a large number of the Tuskegee Airmen attempted to integrate the all white officer's club. The black pilots were arrested and charged with insubordination. Terry was arrested for "jostling" one officer in the incident which later became known as the Freeman Field Mutiny. Terry was charged with insubordination and also charged with getting physical with a white officer. The insubordination charge was not upheld, but he was convicted of getting physical with a white officer. His punishment was a $150 fine and a reduction in rank, and he was dishonorably discharged. In 1995 the assistant secretary of the Air Force, Rodney Coleman removed disciplinary letters from the files of the Tuskegee airmen. He also removed Terry's court martial and dishonorable discharge and restored his rights and privileges. Terry was said to have been proud of his behavior in the mutiny and subsequent

court-martial A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the arme ...

After service

Terry earned a law degree and worked for the District Attorney of Los Angeles, California. He was active in Tuskegee Airmen causes and was also an advisor on the film

Red Tails ''Red Tails'' is a 2012 American war film directed by Anthony Hemingway in his feature directorial debut, and starring Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding Jr. The film is about the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African-American United States A ...

. In Los Angeles, Stanford Ave & E 28th St was named Roger Terry Square in his honor.

Awards

Congressional Gold Medal The Congressional Gold Medal is the oldest and highest civilian award in the United States, alongside the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It is bestowed by vote of the United States Congress, signed into law by the president. The Gold Medal exp ...

awarded to the Tuskegee Airmen in 2006

Death

Terry died of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to Cardiac cycle, fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF ...

on June 11, 2009. He was 87. He is buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.

References

External links

Fly Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

(2009 play about the 332d Fighter Group)
Roger Bill Terry article

Tuskegee Airmen
at

Tuskegee University Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU; formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute) is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States. It was founded as a normal school for teachers on July 4, 1881, by the ...

Tuskegee Airmen Archives
at the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...

Libraries.
Tuskegee Airmen, Inc.

(

U.S. National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all national parks; most national monuments; and other natural, historical, and recreational p ...

)
Tuskegee Airmen National Museum

Roger Terry describes his military experiences
{{DEFAULTSORT:Terry, Roger 1921 births 2009 deaths Military personnel from Tuskegee, Alabama Tuskegee Airmen American military personnel who were court-martialed United States Army Air Forces officers African-American aviators 21st-century African-American people Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery