Sponsor Representative Bruce Antone (D-Orlando) and Prime Co-Sponsor Representative Doug Bankson (R-Apopka) yesterday passed, HB 1227, Tuskegee Airmen Commemoration Day, designating the fourth Thursday in March as a legal holiday. The bill passed the Constitutional Rights, Rule of Law & Government Operations Subcommittee unanimously.
The bill recognizes the Tuskegee Airmen, African American fighter pilots, who trained near Tuskegee Institute now known as Tuskegee University. The pilots formed part of the 332nd Fighter Group which was comprised of four squadrons of African American pilots in the 15th Air Force during World War II. The Airmen were also known as the “Red Tails”, a nicknamed acquired from the painted tails of 332nd fighter planes, which flew over 200 missions in the performance of defending heavy bombers from enemy interceptors.
“Yesterday the committee voted for the Tuskegee Airmen Commemoration Day Bill. This is the first step towards a day designated as the “Tuskegee Airmen Commemoration Day on the Fourth Thursday in March of each year,” said Representative Antone.
The next committee stop is State Affairs Committee before a Floor vote.
