George Hickman in the cockpit of an AT–6 trainer airplane in Tuskegee, Ala. Hickman, one of the original Tuskegee Airmen, died Sunday, Aug. 19, 2012, in Seattle. He was 88. (AP Photo/Courtesy George Hickman, file)

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Tuskegee Airman George Hickman Dead At 88

Ann Dornfeld
08/21/2012

One of the original Tuskegee Airmen died Sunday in Seattle at the age of 88. As KUOW's Ann Dornfeld reports, George Hickman served in the segregated Air Corps at the end of World War II.

TRANSCRIPT

George Hickman took part in the US military's first effort to train black pilots and crewmen for combat missions. He graduated from the pilot training program in Tuskegee, Alabama in 1944.

Hickman told the Associated Press that his goal to be a pilot was thwarted after he protested the way white superior officers treated another black cadet. Instead, he worked as a flight mechanic in Europe during World War II.

Hickman moved to Seattle in 1955 to work at Boeing. His first job there was training workers to build B–52s. He stayed at the company for nearly 30 years.

Hickman was well–known locally in his role as an usher at Seahawks football games and University of Washington sporting events.

In 2007 Hickman and other Tuskegee Airmen were collectively awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, Congress' highest civilian honor.

I'm Ann Dornfeld, KUOW News.

© Copyright 2012, KUOW