Harry T. Stewart Jr. | |
---|---|
Born | Newport News, Virginia, U.S. | July 4, 1924
Allegiance | United States |
Service | United States Army Air Forces United States Air Force |
Rank | Lieutenant Colonel |
Battles / wars | World War II |
Awards | Distinguished Flying Cross Congressional Gold Medal |
Harry Thaddeus Stewart Jr. (born July 4, 1924) is a retired United States Army Air Forces officer, a Distinguished Flying Cross recipient, and a fighter pilot who served in the 332nd Fighter Group, best known as the all-African American Tuskegee Airmen.[1]
Stewart shot down three German aircraft in one day during World War II.[2] He is one of only four Tuskegee Airmen, along with Joseph Elsberry, Clarence D. Lester and Lee Archer, to have earned three victories in a single day of aerial combat.[3]
Stewart was also a member of the all-African American 332nd Fighter Group Weapons pilot team that won the United States Air Force's inaugural "Top Gun" team competition in 1949.[4][5][6][7] Stewart, along with George Hardy and fellow 1949 Top Gun winner James H. Harvey, is among the last surviving members of the Tuskegee Airmen.[8] The Tuskegee Airmen were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2006.[9] In 2019, Stewart co-wrote “Soaring to Glory: A Tuskegee Airman's Firsthand Account of World War II,” co-written by Philip Handleman.[10]