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For Tuskegee Airman Luther H. Smith, Oct. 13, 1944, proved to be both the unluckiest and the luckiest day of his life.

"I flew 133 missions. On the last one I didn’t make it back. It was Friday the 13th. It was my lucky day. I’m still alive," said the 86-year-old Radnor resident.
He will have a chance to reminisce about his adventures as one of America’s first black fighter pilots trained at Morton Field in Tuskegee, Ala., on Thursday in Washington, D.C.

With about 290 other surviving Tuskegee Airmen, he will be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award bestowed by Congress, from President George W. Bush, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and President Pro Tempore of the Senate Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., in the Capitol rotunda.

Before the 1 p.m. ceremony, the historic black aviators will be honored at a breakfast hosted by the Pennsylvania Veterans Museum in Media at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington, where the documentary about the Tuskegee Airmen produced by the museum, "On Freedom’s Wings: Bound for Glory," will be shown.

The end of the documentary, which has been recommended by the Pennsylvania Department of Education for use in schools throughout the state, will be filmed during the gold medal presentation at the Capitol, said Media Mayor Bob McMahon, a Vietnam veteran who is executive secretary of the museum.

"The Tuskegee Airmen overcame many, many obstacles, including racism, to live their dream and become an inspiration for many students throughout the country," said McMahon.

Museum officials are also arranging transportation of the veteran pilots from the breakfast to the U.S. Capitol.

"The Tuskegee Airmen have worked so hard to help us with our educational program. We wanted to help them do something special for their day," said Pennsylvania Veterans Museum Executive Director Joanna Murphy

She worked with past president Tess Spooner and public relations representative Ron Brewington of Tuskegee Airmen Inc. in arranging the events.

Among the speakers expected at the breakfast are U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., Selective Service Director Bill Chatfield, Air National Guard Director Lt. General Daniel James III and Jeff Gordon, corporate relations manager for PECO, who helped fund the documentary and the breakfast.

Invitations have also been extended to First Lady Laura Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Gov. Ed Rendell and U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak of Edgmont, D-7, among others.

Since the number of guests allowed in the Capitol rotunda is limited, Luther Smith will only be accompanied Thursday by his 48-year-old son, Gordon L. Smith, of New York City. He also has a wife, Lois G. Smith, and a daughter, Deborah Smith, of Boston.

"Before World War II began in 1941, black Americans were not accepted in military aviation and I wanted to be a military aviator. We performed much better than anyone thought possible," said Smith, who completed nine months of aviator training at Tuskegee in May 1943.

Indeed, among the achievements of the 450 Tuskegee Airmen who saw combat during World War II, were 200 escort missions completed without losing a bomber to enemy aircraft.

Assigned to the 332nd Fighter Group of the U.S. Army Air Force, Smith was stationed in Ramitelli, Italy, with the 15th Strategic Air Force. On Oct. 13, 1944, he had just finished escorting a bomber from enemy territory in Southeast Germany to a safe area on the Danube River in Budapest, Hungary, in his P51 Mustang fighter plane when he fired on an enemy munitions dump.

"There was a big explosion. I was 10 feet off the ground and my plane was badly damaged," remembered the retired aerospace engineer.

While en route back to Italy, the plane caught fire. He turned it on its back and started falling out of the plane.

"The airplane went into a tailspin. I was hanging out of the cockpit and my foot was caught in the plane. I was caught and I thought, this was the end of me," said Smith whose hip snapped in two places.

His oxygen mask was falling off his face, but as he started to pass into unconsciousness, Smith managed to yank the ripcord on his parachute which pulled him out of the plane.

"I parachuted into Zagreb, Yugoslavia. I was rescued and captured by the Germans and I was a prisoner of war in Stalag 18A," said Smith, who landed in a tree while the plane in which he had flown 40 missions was reduced to rubble below.

He was in a German hospital from November 1944 until April 1945, when uncertain of his fate with the advancement of Russia, he asked to return to the prison camp.

"I thought that was the end of my life. I went down to 70 pounds," said Smith.

The camp was liberated by American troops in May 1945 and Smith was sent to a succession of hospitals -- 21 in three years -- until 1947, when he retired from the Air Force while at Percy Jones General Hospital in Battle Creek, Mich.

He returned to the University of Iowa, which he had dropped out of after two years to join the Army Air Force, to complete a degree in mechanical engineering. Smith, who was awarded the Purple Heart, the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with six Oak Leaf Clusters, worked for General Electric from 1951 until 1988.

It wasn’t quite the career he had envisioned at age 7 after hearing Charles Lindbergh had completed the first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean from New York to Paris.

"I heard it on the radio and I was fascinated by that and wanted to be like Charles Lindbergh," said Smith.

At age 13, he walked with his brother, Howard, five miles to the Des Moines Municipal Airport just to see aircraft. Hired on the spot, he assisted mechanics refueling and repairing planes until 1938, when he went off to college.

Smith, who was one of seven veterans selected to accompany then-President Bill Clinton to Europe for the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, is aware of the important place he holds in history.

"Because we were the recent descendants of slaves they didn’t think we had that background (to be pilots)," said the veteran aviator. "We proved to be quite good."

©DelcoTimes 2007