AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
The Tuskegee Airmen are now celebrated as true American heroes. These Black men fought in World War II for a country still brutally segregated that treated them as less than full citizens. Later, these men who shattered the color line as combat pilots were awarded some of the nation's highest honors, but some never got to see any tributes. They never made it home. A new book tells the stories of the 27 Black airmen who went missing during flights overseas, leaving their families forever changed and still looking for answers. NPR investigative correspondent Cheryl W. Thompson is the author of "Forgotten Souls: The Search For The Lost Tuskegee Airmen," and she joins us now. Welcome to the program.
CHERYL W THOMPSON: Hi, Ayesha. Thanks for having me.
RASCOE: First, I want to talk to you about how this book - it really shines a light on the lives of these men. Was there anything that surprised you about their personal lives when you started doing this research?
THOMPSON: I think the one thing that surprised me most was really how young they were. But in their letters and in their conversations with relatives, they seemed so much older because they had to grow up so quickly. But most of them were fresh out of college. The oldest one was 28. The youngest one, I believe, was 20. The other was just the kind of lives they led before they went off to war. I don't think any of them were wealthy. They came from all over the country.
RASCOE: Yeah.
THOMPSON: You know, they were just these typical sort of starry-eyed men who just wanted to serve this country and do something good.
RASCOE: Yeah. And, I mean, I found it so powerful to hear from some of these pilots in their own words through their letters to their loved ones. And could you read a letter from John Henry Chavis? He was writing to his mother about his soon-to-be bride who he called Cookie.
THOMPSON: OK. (Reading) I'm still a very lucky guy. Look at the nice letter I got from her mother. The next time you talk to Cookie, be sure to welcome her to the Chavis family. By the way, when are you going to congratulate me? I'm sure you're happy over my having such a perfect girlfriend.
RASCOE: (Laughter) How did you feel going through these personal effects, and, like, how did you get this letter?
THOMPSON: So I got this letter from Chavis' nephew and niece. You know, I got lucky. You know, journalism is a lot about luck, but writing this book was a lot about luck too because so many of these relatives actually kept or were handed - letters were handed down from other relatives to them, and they just - to their credit, they kept them.
RASCOE: Reading that letter from Chavis, filled with all of this hope and joy, the other part of the book is that it makes it really sad when you learn of the tragedy of his disappearance on a mission in February 1945. The military blamed engine trouble for Chavis' plane going down. But as the book shows, like, there is often, like, just a lack of clarity about what happened when these pilots went missing. Was that just a feature or, like, just the nature of war at that time? Were these type of crashes common?
THOMPSON: Well, you know, there was a lot going on 'cause there was a war going on.
RASCOE: Yeah.
THOMPSON: But I think that the Black pilots were ignored more than others. You know, if they went down in enemy territory, the government would say, well, it was - you know, it was too dangerous for us to go and search for them. OK. Fine.
RASCOE: Yeah.
THOMPSON: But then there's after the war.
RASCOE: Yeah. I mean, talk to me about the impact on the families. You know, they would get the telegram that their loved ones were MIA, and a year later, they would be declared dead. And how did they deal with just the not knowing?
THOMPSON: I don't think - and I think I'm safe in saying this for the families I met with and talked to repeatedly - they never got over it, right? They never got over it because some of them still have siblings, and they're in their 90s now, and it destroyed their parents, not only moms, but dads as well, who just - you know, there was one father who just didn't want his son...
RASCOE: Yes. That was - yeah.
THOMPSON: ...To be in the - in - to go off to war.
RASCOE: He didn't want him to go and...
THOMPSON: He didn't want him to go because he knew...
RASCOE: He didn't want to lose him.
THOMPSON: He didn't want to lose him. And he lost him. And for the children - right? - because some of them had children...
RASCOE: Yeah.
THOMPSON: ...The oldest one, I found at the time the - her dad disappeared, was three, and she's now 84.
RASCOE: Yeah.
THOMPSON: And she has said to me - and I talked to her just the other day 'cause I keep in touch with these...
RASCOE: Yeah.
THOMPSON: ...Families because...
RASCOE: Yes.
THOMPSON: ...It's sort of like, you know, when you spend time with these people over years...
RASCOE: Yeah.
THOMPSON: ...You just have a relationship. You develop...
RASCOE: Yes.
THOMPSON: ...Some kind of relationship with them. And she says, you know, I'm still waiting. I'm hoping that one day, you know, somebody will knock on my door and say, we found your dad.
RASCOE: Why do you think this hasn't been talked about more? I mean, I feel like we hear - not saying that we could ever hear enough about the Tuskegee Airmen, but we hear about the honors. We - you know, they - you know, in the State of the Union, they're getting an honor at the White House. But why haven't we talked more about those that were lost and their remains were not found? Why have we not talked about that?
THOMPSON: That's a good question.
RASCOE: Yeah.
THOMPSON: That's a question you should pose to the government, and ask them, like, what are you guys doing? Why haven't - why hasn't this come up? Because, I mean, they were honored, you know, back in - I want to say it was 2007 by the Bush - George W. Bush White House when they got the Congressional Medal of Honor. And so those who were, you know, still around, of course, went to the White House, and they were very touched by it. The families I got to know, I think, would be happy with someone knocking on their door, picking up the phone, saying, you know what? We haven't forgotten about your dad. We haven't forgotten about your brother. We haven't forgotten about your uncle. Something. But to have crickets is probably the most hurtful thing for them.
RASCOE: That's Cheryl W. Thompson. She's our colleague here at NPR's investigative unit. Her new book is "Forgotten Souls: The Search For The Lost Tuskegee Airmen." Cheryl, thank you so much.
THOMPSON: Thank you, Ayesha, for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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