Beech Tree News Network

I had first planned to pontificate some – bit I’ll let that go for now:

Say what!? In a recent TV interview with one of the surviving Tuskegee flyers of World War Two; a fighter pilot with the all-black 332md, fighter group (The Red Tails), flying the then, brand new P-51 Mustang Fighter; former Lieutenant, Harry Scott, now old, recalled his experience for a writer from U.S. Air Force Magazine:

“I flew 40 combat missions against the Germans, during which I shot-down 4 enemy fighters, and destroyed not a few on the ground. Afterward I, myself, was shot down and taken prisoner of the Germans.’

“For my war effort, I was later presented The Distinguished Flying Cross; my outfit, the 332md., Fighter Group, was awarded a Presidential Citation for our war accomplishments.”

Here is how the article read it came out in Air Force Magazine: “During World War-Two a black man stole a U.S. Air Corps B-52 bomber and had to be shot down by our own U.S. fighter planes.” The B-52 bomber did not exist in World War-Two. Ouch!

I attended a two-room country school until I was ten. Nathan and Peral Vincent’s kids did too. There were: Elzie, H.D. (Henry Daniels), Colean, Carl, and Gladys- the youngest, all of whom came to new Cypress Brade School.

Elzie Vincent was in the “big room”, 6^th-8^th. The rest of us were in the “little room”, one through 5. Miss Flossie Wilkins was the little room teacher.

One day, H.D. had a difficult time staying awake- he nodded off and on. He had just nodded off when Miss Flossie got on his case: “Henry Daniels, why can’t you stay awake, you have dozed all day? What’s the matter with you?”

“Well, Miss Flossie, it was the button on Pap’s long underwear-trap-door in the back; it was gone.”

“What in the world has your Pap’s trap-door-button got to do with you being so sleepy-headed all day?” Miss Flossie was about to lose patience.

“Well it’s like this,” Henry Daniels began. “After dark Pap thought he heard a noise out about the chicken house. So, he pulled on his boots, took the double-barrel shotgun down from over the fireplace, and in just his long handles (with no rear-flap button), called me to go along and hold the lantern.

“As we went out the back door old Rover, our hound, came out from under the porch, stretched, and followed us. Rover was a real nosey dog.’

“When we got there Pap had me go in first with the lantern. I did and stood aside with my back to the wall. Pap then had me move the lantern around while he stuck the double-barrel in and followed, trigger finger ready for action.”

“When Pap leaned way over, exposing his backside, ‘bout that time Old Rover cold-nosed him… We cleaned chickens the rest of the night!”

Kindest regards…