Tuskegee airman paved way for others
Tuskegee airman paved way for others
BY GABRIEL H. GLUCK
Star-Ledger Staff
For Col. Reginald Stroud, there was no doubt in his mind why he was able to stand before the parishioners at the Second Baptist Church in Rahway yesterday in his United States Air Force uniform.
It was because of Odell McLeod and the other Tuskegee Airmen, whose sacrifices would ultimately make the segregation and discrimination, once the norm in the American military, no longer acceptable.
McLeod, 88, died Sunday. He was one of the original members of the 99th Fighter Squadron, an all-black unit, where he was part of the maintenance crew responsible for keeping the planes ready to fly.
Earlier this year, McLeod and several other Tuskegee Airmen, a unit that lost no men during combat, were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.
Interviewed at the time, McLeod said when he was drafted in 1942, he had no idea the military was segregated. He arrived at Fort Dix shocked to find the line of draftees split in two: white men stood on a hill, black men stayed at the bottom. McLeod was buried yesterday afternoon at the N.J. Veterans Memorial Cemetery, not far from where he stood in that line 66 years ago.
Before the morning Homegoing Service at the Rahway church, McLeod's son Howard reminisced about his father, who for years said little about his experiences in the military.
"He didn't talk much about it. He talked more about bowling, which he loved," said his son, now 60.
But in the late'70s, when McLeod was diagnosed with cancer, he started to open up.
Within the last decade, he started attending reunions and going to local schools to talk to students about his experiences.
"Because of what he gave, America is a better place to live," said the Rev. James Ealey.
Few felt that more personally than Stroud, who is stationed at McGuire Air Force Base in Wrightstown and was part of the contingent from the base attending the funeral.
"I didn't know Mr. McLeod, but I'd like to thank him," said Stroud, an African-American. "We are the proud inheritors of his dedication and his commitment."
"It's because of his hard work and many like him that we are able to wear the uniform today," Stroud said.
Fellow Tuskegee Airman Malcolm E. Nettingham, who in recent years would visit schools together with McLeod, especially during Black History Month, said he would miss his brother in arms.
"I lost a friend and I feel sad for the family," said Nettingham, who was a radio operator and a gunner on a B-25 in the 477th Bomb Group.
But as age takes its toll on the remaining ranks of Tuskegee Airmen, Nettingham, 89, takes comfort that an organization has been established to carry on the story of the unit.
As for his own fate, Nettingham believes he is already blessed.
"I'm Christian," he said. "I praise God and I thank him that he's given me these years. I've already had my three-score and ten. I'm living on bonus time. You have to look at it, as the beginning of another life later on."
McLeod was predeceased by four brothers, William, Fred, Lacie Jr., and Edward McDaniels; and a sister, Anna Marie.
McLeod is also survived by his longtime companion, Marjorie Holmes of Linden; two brothers, Walter of Rahway and Robert of Maryland; and three sisters, Lacie Slater of Rochester, N.Y., Ruth Herriott of Maryland and Jessie Dixon of Plainfield.
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