By Joan Hallmark
The exhibition now on display at the historic Aviation Memorial Museum in Tyler is named "The Test" because that's exactly what this page in our nation's history was. It was a test of African Americans and their ability to pilot planes in combat.
More than anything, Wilbur Dixon had wanted to fly. So at the age of 16 he went into the Tuskegee Program.
Because he had not yet reached 18, Dixon was trained at Tuskegee in aircraft maintainace,
when he reached 18 he was accepted into the army's pilot program, but by then Tuskegee airmen had proved themselves in combat and Americas flight program was integrated.
Copyright 2012 KLTV. All
rights reserved.
