Remembering Tuskegee Airman Lee Archer
Tom McConnell is one of the many Americans mourning the loss of retired Air Force Lt. Col. Lee A. Archer, a New Rochelle resident and decorated member of the Tuskegee Airmen.
McConnell had a special connection to the Tuskegee Airman, America’s first black fighter group in WWII. They saved his life, and the lives of other bombardiers, many times during their service in 1944 and 1945, he said. The Tuskegee Airmen flew alongside bomber planes, making sure they got through their missions and returned.
The airmen never lost a bomber over some 200 missions.
McConnell said he was horrified by the poor treatment and discrimination the Tuskegee Airmen faced when they came back to the US. He met Archer years later, when they were both on a television show, and told him he was sorry for that.
Archer died Wednesday at age 90. Read Noreen O’Donnell’s story here.
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