Flight: The Story of Virgil Richardson, A Tuskegee Airman in Mexico PDF
Preview Flight: The Story of Virgil Richardson, A Tuskegee Airman in Mexico
Vins-FM.qxd 3/9/04 5:00 PM Page i Flight This page intentionally left blank Vins-FM.qxd 3/9/04 5:00 PM Page iii Flight The Story of Virgil Richardson, A Tuskegee Airman in Mexico Ben Vinson III Vins-FM.qxd 3/9/04 5:00 PM Page iv FLIGHT © Ben Vinson III,2004 All rights reserved.No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published 2004 by PALGRAVE MACMILLANTM 175 Fifth Avenue,New York,N.Y.10010 and Houndmills,Basingstoke,Hampshire,England RG21 6XS Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St.Martin’s Press,LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd.Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States,United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 1–4039–6618–4 hardback Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Vinson,Ben. Flight :the story of Virgil Richardson,a Tuskegee airman in Mexico / by Ben Vinson,III [and] Virgil Richardson. p.cm. Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index. ISBN1-4039-6618-4 (hc :alk.paper) 1.Richardson,Virgil,1916– 2.United States.Army Air Forces.Fighter Group,332nd. 3.World War,1939–1945—Aerial operations,American.4.Unites States.Army Air Forces—Airmen—Biography.5.United States.Army Air Forces—African Americans— Biography.6.Actors—United States—Biography.7.African American actors—Biography. 8.African Americans—Mexico—Biography.9.United States—Ethnic relations—History— 20th century.10.Mexico—Ethnic relations—History— 20th century. I.Richardson,Virgil,1916– II.Title. E745.V56 2004 973’.0496073’0092—dc22 [B] 2004044539 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd.,Chennai,India. First edition:November 2004 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America. Vins-FM.qxd 3/9/04 5:00 PM Page v For Virgil—In Home of His Memory December 14,1916–May 15,2004 This page intentionally left blank Vins-FM.qxd 3/9/04 5:00 PM Page vii Contents Acknowledgements ix Introduction From the Eyes of an Historian 1 Chapter One Virgil: Before the War 9 Chapter Two In the Army Now 25 Chapter Three Days at Tuskegee 39 Chapter Four From Tuskegee Back to War 47 Chapter Five Atlantic Sound 53 Chapter Six A Soldier’s Homecoming 71 Chapter Seven Bienvenidos à México 83 Chapter Eight From Tourist to Resident—Being Black in Mexico City during the 1950s 91 Chapter Nine Livin’and Workin’the Mexico City Scene 107 Chapter Ten New York Interlude 115 Chapter Eleven Transitions—Back in Mexico during the 1960s 121 Chapter Twelve Border Crossings 133 Epilogue Black American Yankees on Montezuma’s Soil 137 Notes 175 Selected Bibliography 195 Index 201 y y y Photosection appears between pages 106 and 107. This page intentionally left blank Vins-FM.qxd 3/9/04 5:00 PM Page ix Acknowledgements A ll books have a history.Flight is intertwined in the lives and experiences of more people than I can possibly list. Of course, tremendous gratitude goes to Mr.Virgil Richardson and his family,who patiently put up with me for many days on end, for my endless needs for “a ride,” and for my too many probing questions about the innerworkings of their lives. In particular, I would like to thank Morris, Lois, Deborah, Charles, and Evette Richardson for their kind- ness and hospitality.Vincent De Lusia is responsible for hosting the conference that brought me into contact with Virgil, and Omar Farouk-Roque helped conceive of this project in its earliest stages.The guidance,support,and insight of Herbert S. Klein, Louis Pérez, Jr., Richard H. Kohn, Caryl “Caz” Phillips, Duchess Harris, Gabriel Haslip-Viera, Paul Eiss, Peter Coclanis, Jacqueline Hall, Rosalind Rosenberg, Herbert Sloan, JoAnn Gustafson, and William “Sandy” Darity, Jr. all proved instrumental to the research and writing of the final manuscript.In Mexico,the friendship and comments of Annadale Snider, Olivia Livera,William Somersille,and Alicia Mejia opened up new avenues of research. My dedicated student team worked endlessly, sometimes seeing no sense in their work and numbing their eyes,ears,and hands by reviewing tapes and transcribing.Thank you, Julie Gilgoff and Tanya Dantus,for your incred- ible efforts. In Mexico City, Fabiola Melendez was magnificent in tracking down obscure photographs,documents,and records.I would also like to thank theNew York Times Book Review.An author’s query published there led to some very interesting correspondence that helped shape this book. A very special thanks is extended to my fantastic parents, Ben Vinson, Jr. and Lillie M. Hill Vinson.Both rolled up their sleeves on this project.My father accompanied me into the National Archives and fished through a sea of documents for informa- tion on Virgil’s life. With his trained soldier’s eye, he also carefully read and gave constructive comments on the first full draft of the manuscript. My mother not only traveled to West Columbia,Texas, but she also assisted with several rounds of interviews. Her endless charm placed Virgil at ease, even at moments when it seemed like he was too tired to answer any further questions.
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