Los Angeles, CA-The George Lucas epic “Red Tails,” a film inspired by the legendary and historic exploits of the Tuskegee Airmen, the nation’s first black military aviators, has proven to be a hit in its first weekend at the box office. Some of the men who served the country during that time period are excited that a story like “Red Tails” has finally made it to the big screen.
One of those men is 90-year-old Mitch Higginbotham. At a recent Los Angeles press screening for the film, Higginbotham, as well as a host of other black airmen who participated in the infamous “Tuskegee Experience,” came out to show their support of the Lucas-produced production.
The “Tuskegee Experience” was conceived when President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order to give African Americans an equal opportunity to fly in the military. Higginbotham was a flight instructor in the all-black 99th Fighter Squadron, which later came together with other African American flying units to form the famed 332nd Fighter Group, better known as the Red Tails for their distinctive paintings on their airplanes.
After seeing the movie, Higginbotham said he was “very pleased” with the film. He said the movie is important step in claiming a bit of black history that is not often portrayed in movie theaters.
“I think it’s very important,” Higginbotham said. “I hope it is an inspiration to youngsters-black and white. I think it will be quite an inspiration. I’ve talked about the film for a long time. George Lucas started with us about 20 years ago, and he got sort of bogged down with Star Wars 1 and Star Wars 2…He came through with flying colors.
“We didn’t think we were doing anything so spectacular or so brave at the time. Most us, we were in there because we wanted to fly airplanes. We had to fight for the right to fight. We fought and came back and then had to prove to the people here that we did fight. It’s been quite an experience. Finally, our story is being told. I hope it’ll be enlightening and help the coming generation.”
Actor Marcus T. Paulk, who plays the religious leader in “Red Tails” as David “Deke” Watkins, said he expects the impact of the movie to be far-reaching, particular with the younger audience.
“This film is definitely a huge, huge thing for the whole entertainment business and for us as African Americans,” Paulk said in a brief interview at the Rave Motion Pictures Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza in Los Angeles. “As a historical piece, it’s very much needed for people to understand the information in this story of these great guys. These men are amazing. Seeing these guys today…They have as much energy as the young cast members on the set. Working with them was just amazing.”
Paulk admitted he knew very about the Tuskegee Airmen himself before HBO put out an astute effort in the mid-1990s that infused life into part of American history largely gone unnoticed by the public. Paulk believes the current “Red Tails” movie will bring more attention to the black airmen.
“This story is an action adventure. It’s huge,” Paulk said. “It makes you feel good about their story and makes you want to look into it a lot more. I think this is very important. The high-flying action, the dogfighgts, you’ve never seen it like this…you had the feeling of actually being in the fight with us while we’re up in the air.”
Dave Culmer knows a little about that history during the World War II time period. In fact, Culmer played a part in that history as one of the last recruits to train at Montford Point Camp at Lejeune, North Carolina, the Marine Corps all-black military’s branch. Like their fellow black military comrades coming out of Tuskegee, the Montford Point Marines didn’t come about except for another executive order by President Roosevelt.
Culmer said “Red Tails” is a film that defies description.
“The magnitude is beyond description,” Culmer said. “So many people don’t know about the Tuskegee Airmen and they were much more prevalent and much more visible than the Montford Point Marines. So many people don’t know about Tuskegee. So the magnitude of that…I can’t quantify it because of what they went through.”
On why it took so long for such a movie to be made, Culmer said the longer people get away from history-history itself becomes a faded memory.
“I think it took this long for people’s consciousness to be cemented over to not recognize this closer to the event,” said. “So the farther you are away from the event-the less vivid your memory is. That may be one reason. The kids of today…I don’t know how much they can appreciate racism as it existed long, long before they were born. They can hear stories, but I don’t know how they can visualize that. It should be meaningful.”
Dennis has covered and written about politics, crime, race, sports, and entertainment. Dennis currently covers the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, and Olympic sports. Dennis is the editor of News4usonline.com and serves as the publisher of the Compton Bulletin newspaper. He earned a journalism degree from Howard University. Email Dennis at dfreeman@news4usonline.com
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