High-Profile Member Of Tuskegee Airmen Dies

Lt. Col. Robert Friend, an active ambassador for the Tuskegee Airmen, died Friday at his home in Long Beach, California. Friend, who was 99, was one of the last surviving…

Lt. Col. Robert Friend, an active ambassador for the Tuskegee Airmen, died Friday at his home in Long Beach, California. Friend, who was 99, was one of the last surviving members of the storied Red Tails, a segregated African American fighter group that fought in the Second World War. Friend, who was speaking to school groups until last year and signed autographs at the Palm Springs Air Museum in January, was active in the squadron’s outreach program for decades. Friend died of sepsis, surrounded by family.

Friend was among the first to join the Red Tails and to be deployed overseas, first as a P-47 pilot and then flying the P-51. He flew 142 missions in Africa and Europe and was a Combat Operations Officer by the end of the war. He stayed in the Army Air Corps, which became the U.S. Air Force, and had a 28-year career working on space launch vehicles and as director of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena program, investigating UFO reports. He worked in the space industry after retirement from the Air Force.

Russ Niles is Editor-in-Chief of AVweb. He has been a pilot for 30 years and joined AVweb 22 years ago. He and his wife Marni live in southern British Columbia where they also operate a small winery.