Eleanor Macon wanted the record set straight.
Macon, 75, contacted the Post-Dispatch after the newspaper reported
that historical accounts vastly understated the number of Tuskegee
Airmen who received the Purple Heart. Using a government database and
military archives, the newspaper initially identified 47 airmen who
received the award and an additional 10 who appear to have received the
medal. The tally was seven times greater than what had been routinely
reported.
Macon's late husband, Capt. Richard D. Macon, was among the airmen whom
the newspaper identified as a likely recipient of the award. He was
shot down by anti-aircraft fire on Aug. 12, 1944, on an escort mission
to Toulon, France. He broke his shoulder and neck, and was held
prisoner until the end of the war. He died in 2007.
Read More
Macon, 75, contacted the Post-Dispatch after the newspaper reported
that historical accounts vastly understated the number of Tuskegee
Airmen who received the Purple Heart. Using a government database and
military archives, the newspaper initially identified 47 airmen who
received the award and an additional 10 who appear to have received the
medal. The tally was seven times greater than what had been routinely
reported.
Macon's late husband, Capt. Richard D. Macon, was among the airmen whom
the newspaper identified as a likely recipient of the award. He was
shot down by anti-aircraft fire on Aug. 12, 1944, on an escort mission
to Toulon, France. He broke his shoulder and neck, and was held
prisoner until the end of the war. He died in 2007.
Read More