HBO filmed the movie "The Tuskegee Airmen" in 1995 and broadcast it on its TV channel, also based on the story of the 332 fighter squadron. After it was broadcast, it was well received and won the 1996 Amy Emmy Award (Oscar in the TV drama industry). Repeated many times later. Until 2001, it was converted to a film format, and a limited range of projections were performed in theaters. In World War II, the 332 fighter squadron composed entirely of blacks was indeed a very attractive subject. It is estimated that there should be more than 10 films/art works created with it as the subject material. The more famous is the 2007 documentary "Red Tail Reborn" that won the Emmy Award, and the 2009 drama performed at the Ford Theater in Washington. "Fly". It is certainly not surprising that this "Red Tails" remakes this theme again.
The beginning of the film is marked as "creation based on historical facts", so the expression in the film should not be treated as a historical documentary by the audience.
In the closing words at the end of the film, it said: "In the escort mission performed by the 332 Squadron, none of the Allied bombers were destroyed by the enemy." This statement was mentioned in the 95 HBO film "The Tuskegee Airmen". In the following years, the outside world generally agreed with this statement, and it did not receive much doubt.
However, the records and statistics of the military and the retired veterans of the 332 Squadron were subsequently unearthed. At least 25 bombers were shot down in all the escort missions performed by the 332 Squadron. The internal Air Force files show that a total of 450 pilots of the 332 squadron were deployed overseas. A total of 66 pilots were killed in battle. Another 84 were killed in training and other accidents. In addition, 32 were captured. Until the end of World War II, there was no elite pilot in the 332 squadron. Obviously the record is not very good. The artistic processing of this film is obviously a bit too much. P51 fighters attacked German destroyers in a single plane without bombs or torpedoes. First of all, the German Navy, with the exception of U-Boat submarines, it is impossible for surface combat ships to appear in the Mediterranean. The dignified destroyer (anti-submarine air defense as the main purpose) was shot above the waterline by the P-51's 12.7mm machine gun... In June, a destroyer belonging to the Italian Navy, disguised as a civilian ship, was discovered by the aircraft of the 332 Squadron and scrapped (the ship was classified as a "torpedo boat" by the Germans). In the duel between the American P-51 Mustang fighter jet and the German jet fighter-bomber Me262, the 12.7 mm machine gun shells were against the German 30 mm machine gun shells. The 3 cm diameter shell hit the pilot, and there was only a wound the size of a pistol bullet... Actually, the German plane was hit and exploded in the air... This is really an "anti-German drama". I can't help but want to swear. but. It was true that the 332 Squadron fought Me-262 jets during the escort operation on March 24, 1945. After the air raid in Berlin, the 332 squadron itself counted the results of 11 Me-262s. However, the military record obtained from the Germans after that was that 4 jet fighters were damaged, and 3 were confirmed to be shot down. The B-17 bomber (also known as the aerial fortress) that was escorted at that time also had a very strong fire protection, with 13 12.7 mm machine guns distributed in all azimuths of the bomber. Despite this, the 332 fighter squadron still won the collective honor award from the military with three Me262s. In this operation, the Allied forces lost 9 B-17s and 1 B-24 "Liberator". Bombers (similar to B-17 protection), 5 P-51 Mustang fighters. This is nothing to brag about (if you don't feel embarrassed) compared to the battle losses of the 4 Me-262s of the German army. In the film, it is not groundless to mention the initial bad reviews of black soldiers' combat capabilities within the military. When the 332 Squadron was originally formed as a combat reserve in 1942, it was trained at Tuskeegee Air Force Base in Alabama. Since the 100th squadron at the core of the squadron cannot effectively form a whole, senior Air Force officials are skeptical of deploying these black pilots to overseas battlefields. After more than a year of training, in April 1943, the squadron's first combat mission in the Mediterranean, the performance of the 100th Flying Detachment was extremely disappointing. The combat assessment report was submitted to Congress, and the hearing was originally planned to discuss whether the force should be disbanded. Fortunately, the 99th squadron of the 332 squadron saved the entire squadron with outstanding results in time and was rewarded in action. So that the entire squadron can be saved. The escape part of the film apparently copied Hollywood's 1963 classic World War II film "The Great Escape". The true historical facts are based on the historical facts of the escape of Allied prisoners of war from a concentration camp in the Sagan region of Poland. As a result of the real incident, only 3 of the 76 escaped persons managed to escape back to the Allied occupation area. 73 escaped persons were searched and captured by the Gestapo and local police and militia in the following days. Under Hitler’s appointment, 50 were arrested. Secret execution. Escape". The true historical facts are based on the historical facts of the escape of Allied prisoners of war from a concentration camp in the Sagan region of Poland. As a result of the real incident, only 3 of the 76 escaped persons managed to escape back to the Allied occupation area. 73 escaped persons were searched and captured by the Gestapo and local police and militia in the following days. Under Hitler’s appointment, 50 were arrested. Secret execution. Escape". The true historical facts are based on the historical facts of the escape of Allied prisoners of war from a concentration camp in the Sagan region of Poland. As a result of the real incident, only 3 of the 76 escaped persons managed to escape back to the Allied occupation area. 73 escaped persons were searched and captured by the Gestapo and local police and militia in the following days. Under Hitler’s appointment, 50 were arrested. Secret execution.
There is an existing Red Tails P-51 Mustang fighter, which became the protagonist of the 2007 documentary "Red Tail Reborn". In 1945 after the end of World War II, it was sold to Montana State University at Montana State University for one dollar as a military surplus. It is placed in front of the building of the Department of Engineering. Until 1965, in order to expand the parking lot, the school sold the plane to a personal collector for $1. After a failed repair attempt, in 1970, this person donated the aircraft to Commemorative Air Force (CAF), a non-profit civil organization that collects and displays old aircraft. The organization has approximately 11,000 members. Among the precious collections collected by the CAF organization, there is the world's only flying B-29 "Super Fortress" heavy bomber. Although after many private fundraising attempts to restore this Red Tail fighter, there are always difficulties. The final restoration was in 2001, and in the following years, I participated in various air shows and performed flight demonstrations. In an air show in Minnesota in 2004, due to an engine failure, the plane made a forced landing, but the pilot Donald E. Hinz died due to ineffective treatment. The plane was seriously damaged, but CAF was determined to repair it and launched a nationwide fund-raising campaign. After several years of hard work, it finally returned to the sky in 2009. In February 2016, at the South Dallas Airport in the United States, the plane made another emergency landing. The plane landed on the belly and taxied off the runway. The pilot suffered no losses.
Today the market price of the P-51 Mustang fighter reaches 2.5 million U.S. dollars, and even the non-flying P-51 can sell for one million U.S. dollars. It is estimated that there are more than 200 P-51s in the world, most of which can fly. When the US Air Force sold the P-51, the price was roughly $1500. A considerable number of P-51s were bought back by retired pilots, and some were converted into speed competitions by enthusiasts. In the years after the war, Mustang fighters often appeared in flying venues and won rankings. In 1947, the record for the fastest flight from the east coast to the west coast of the United States was even set. In 1951, the record for the fastest flight from New York to London was set.
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