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“font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt; background-color: white;”>George Carper is an avid of “font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt; background-color: white;”>The St. Louis American “font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt; background-color: white;”>who signed up for the Tuskegee Airmen after graduating from
Sumner High School
“font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt; background-color: white;”>in 194. At only 17 years old, he was too young to fly so he was put in mechanics training until he was of age. This was a big disappointment, but his father’s pointed question put him back in the game.
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“You wanna fly,
don’t cha?“ he asked young George, meaning this was a necessary
step to get inside the cockpit.
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Carper had a
stroke in December and was recovering in a rehabilitative facility.
When I visited Carper, his paralysis was noticeable and his speech
slow and sometimes laborious. But his eyes flickered with delight
when he talked about that time in history.
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“One of those
white boys told me, ‘You people can’t drive a truck,’ implying
that flying a plane was wa-a-ay out of their reach,” he
said.
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When Carper
finished his pilot’s training, he went back to the guy and said, “I
may not be able to drive a truck but I can fly a plane!”
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– Jamala
Rogers
My grandfather was good friends with Mr. Carper. My grandfather owned Price Funeral Home and we would go and purchase Caskets for loved ones families. I had ko clue that Mr. Carper was a Airman. Reading this has really warmed my heart. My Grandfather Henry Burkhalter was A SP in the Navy during WWII. These men were part of the greatest generation.