One of the last surviving Tuskegee Airman has a simple wish for his 100th birthday on May 21: Send him birthday cards.
Retired Sgt. Victor W. Butler, who lives in Rhode Island, served as a mechanic during World War II for the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African-American military aviators in the United States armed forces.
The Tuskegee Airmen fought during World War II on behalf of a nation with Jim Crow laws still on the books – codifying the discrimination against Black citizens into law – and fought in a segregated U.S. military.
Before 1940, African-Americans were prohibited from flying in the U.S. military but with war imminent, training was offered to African-Americans as pilots at an airbase in Tuskegee, Alabama.
Butler told WJAR in Providence that he originally wanted to serve in the Canadian Air Force and even signed up with a friend of his.
“But after I had signed up, my mother and father wouldn’t approve of it,” he said. “So, I joined with the American Air Force.”
More than 900 African American men trained at Tuskegee from 1940 to 1946. Of those, about 450 were deployed overseas, with 150 losing their lives.
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Among those who have already sent a card to Butler is ESPN reporter Elle Duncan, whose grandfather, Hubert L. Jones, was also a Tuskegee Airmen. In an "Around The Horn" FaceTime segment last week, Duncan explained why she felt compelled to wish Butler a Happy 100.
Today, Butler enjoys doing puzzles and said he is grateful for his wife and home.
"There are so many people that have lost their home and I am very fortunate to have a nice home and wife and my family who come to visit me often," he told WJAR.
And as for those birthday cards?
"Oh, I'll read every one of them,” he said.
If you would like to send Butler a birthday card, you can mail it to Victor W. Butler, C/O Gary Butler P.O. Box. 3523 Cranston, RI 02910.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.