Charles B. Hall

Charles B. Hall
Born
Charles Blakesly Hall

August 25, 1920
Brazil, Indiana, US
DiedNovember 22, 1971(1971-11-22) (aged 51)
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US
Resting placeSpencer, Oklahoma - Hillcrest Memorial Gardens
Occupations
  • Military officer
  • fighter pilot

Charles Blakesly "Buster" Hall (August 25, 1920 – November 22, 1971) was an American combat fighter pilot and U.S. Army Air Force/U.S. Air Force officer with the 332nd Fighter Group's 99th Fighter Squadron, best known as the Tuskegee Airmen or "Red Tails".[1][2][3]

Highly celebrated by the African American press during World War II, Hall became the first African American combat fighter pilot to shoot down enemy aircraft.[4][better source needed][5][6][7]

General Dwight D. Eisenhower personally met and congratulated Hall on his victory.[1][2] Hall also became the first African American combat fighter pilot to earn the Distinguished Flying Cross.[2]

  1. ^ a b "Charles Blakeley Hall". CAF Rise Above. 8 July 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Tuskegee Airmen profiles: Captain Charles B. Hall". Tuskegee Airmen Museum. 24 February 2021. Archived from the original on 19 September 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  3. ^ Buckley, Gail (2002). American Patriots: The Story of Blacks in the Military from the Revolution to Desert Storm. Random House Trade Paperbacks. ISBN 9780375760099.
  4. ^ Mildred Taylor (2 July 2021). "HISTORY: Charles Hall, the first African-American pilot to shoot down a Nazi plane on this day in 1943". Face to Face Africa.
  5. ^ "The Tuskegee Airmen". Aces of WWII. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  6. ^ Marc Lancaster (2 July 2020). "Tuskegee Airmen: Charles B. Hall records 99th's First Victory". World War II on Deadline. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  7. ^ TUSKEGEE AIRMEN CHRONOLOGY. DANIEL L. HAULMAN. ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORY BRANCH. AIR FORCE HISTORICAL RESEARCH AGENCY. MAXWELL AFB, AL 36112-6424. 14 November 2011 "2 July 1943: While escorting B-25 medium bombers on a raid on Castelvetrano in southwestern Sicily, Italy, 1st Lt. Charles B. Hall of the 99th Fighter Squadron earned the first Tuskegee Airmen aerial victory credit by shooting down an Fw 190 enemy aircraft." https://www.tuskegee.edu/Content/Uploads/Tuskegee/files/TUSKEGEE_AIRMEN_CHRONOLOGY12.2011.pdf