1. Early life

2. Military career

3. Civilian career

4. Related works

5. References

6. External links

Oscar Lawton Wilkerson (born February 9, 1926) is one of the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African American aviators and support personnel who served during World War II.

Early life

Wilkerson was born February 9, 1926, in Chicago Heights, Illinois. He graduated from Bloom Township High School in 1944 and joined the United States Air Force.

Military career

He moved to Tuskegee, Alabama for training and was assigned to the 617th Bombardment Squadron. He became 2nd Lieutenant and earned his "wings" in 1946.^[1] Wilkerson completed his training after the end of the war, so he did not have the chance to fly in combat.^[2]

Wilkerson faced significant racial discrimination while serving in the Air Force because of the segregation of the military at the time. “The military had no intention of using black pilots. The real mission, the underlying mission, was for us to fail and prove their point,” Wilkerson said in an interview with the Southtown Star.^[3] Wilkerson faced segregation when he was required to sit in a different train car than white soldiers on his way to the Tuskegee base. When he arrived there, he found that blacks were forced to eat separately during meals and to sit apart from white soldiers while watching films.^[4] Along with the other Tuskegee Airmen, Wilkerson proved that blacks could perform military duties as capably as whites could. The Tuskegee Airmen had a direct impact on the integration of the armed services.^[5]

Civilian career

Following his military service, Wilkerson attended New York University to study photography. He also attended the Midwest Broadcasting School and graduated in 1960. He worked as a DJ for WBEE-AM in Harvey, Illinois and was known as "Weekend Wilkie." He also hosted his own radio show, Wilk's World. He served as community relations director and later as program director for WBEE-AM. Later, he worked for the radio station WMAQ (AM) until his retirement.^[6] Since his retirement, Wilkerson has spent time volunteering for the Chicago "DODO" Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen, helping minority and at-risk youth fly for free through the "Young Eagles" program.^[7]

Related works

• {{cite book

• {{cite book

• History Makers Interview with Wilkerson
• Red Tails, a 2012 film about the Tuskegee Airmen

References

External links

• History of Union Prairie Township, Allamakee County, Iowa
• History of Union, South Carolina
• History of Union Springs, Alabama
• History of Union Star, Missouri
• History of Uniontown, Alabama
• History of Uniontown, Kansas
• History of Uniontown, Pennsylvania
• History of Union Township, Adair County, Iowa
• History of Union Township, Appanoose County, Iowa
• History of Union Valley, Texas
• History of Unionville, Iowa
• History of Unionville, Missouri
• History of Unirea, Alba
• History of Unitarian Universalism
• History of United States Democrats
• History of United States-Middle East economic relations
• History of Unity, Adams County, Ohio
• History of Unity, Oregon
• History of Universal City, Texas
• History of University City, Missouri
• History of University Heights, Iowa
• History of University Heights, Ohio
• History of University of Colombo
• History of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• History of University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign