Lee Archer (pilot)

For other people named Lee Archer, see Lee Archer (disambiguation).

Lee A. Archer Jr.
Lee Archer during World War II
Nickname	Buddy
Born	September 6, 1919(1919-09-06) Yonkers, New York, United States
Died	January 27, 2010(2010-01-27) (aged 90) Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Army Air Corps
Years of service	1941–1970
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel
Unit	302nd Fighter Squadron Tuskegee Airmen
Battles/wars	World War II Korean War
Awards	Air Force Distinguished Service Medal Distinguished Flying Cross Air Medal (18 clusters) Distinguished Unit Citation Congressional Gold Medal

Lee Andrew Archer Jr. (September 6, 1919 – January 27, 2010) was an American Fighter aircraft pilot in the African-American World War II unit the Tuskegee Airmen. He was one of the first African American military aviators in the United States Army Air Corps earning the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

Early life

Born in Yonkers, New York, Archer attended New York University. Upon graduation, he joined the Army in the hopes of becoming a pilot. At that time, the Army did not accept black pilots, so Archer was posted to a communications job in Georgia. When Army policy changed, he was accepted to the training program for black aviators at Tuskegee Army Airfield in Alabama.

The restored P-51C Mustang associated with the Tuskegee Airmen, now flown by Red Tail Project.

World War II

As a combat pilot, Archer is best remembered for his exploits of October 12, 1944, when he was in the midst of a furious series of dogfights over German-occupied Hungary. In a matter of minutes, flying a North American P-51 Mustang fighter with the distinctive red tail of the 332nd Fighter Group, known collectively as the Tuskegee Airmen, Lieutenant Archer shot down three German fighters.

At a time when the armed forces were segregated and the military brass was reluctant to give blacks combat responsibilities, the four squadrons of the Tuskegee unit proved time and time again that black pilots had the bravery and skills to escort American bombers to their targets and blow enemy aircraft out of the sky.

While flying with the 302nd Fighter Squadron, Archer flew 169 combat missions in the European Theatre of World War II, scoring four confirmed air combat victories:

• One Messerschmitt Bf 109 on 18, July 1944 over Memmingen, Germany
• Three Bf 109s on October 12, 1944 over Lake Balaton, Hungary

Archer also destroyed six aircraft on the ground during a strafing mission in August 1944.

On a second mission during the month of July 1944, Archer spotted a Bf 109. His flight lead, Wendell O. Pruitt—for whom he was acting as wingman—saw it, but did not pursue. Archer chose then to go after it. Another pilot, Freddie Hutchins, also spotted the aircraft, and turned to attack. After chasing the Bf 109 for some time, Archer fired and crippled the enemy aircraft. As it headed toward the ground, Hutchins—who had almost pulled even with Archer—fired as well: "for the hell of it," according to Archer.

When Archer returned home in 1945, a recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross, he found that nothing seemed to have changed in American society. "I flew 169 combat missions when most pilots were flying 50," Archer told The Chicago Tribune in 2004. "When I came back to the U.S. and down that gangplank, there was a sign at the bottom: ′Colored Troops to the Right, White Troops to the Left′."

Archer remained in the armed forces, retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 1970.

Later career

Television personality Bill Cosby (right) eulogized Archer at a Riverside Church memorial service on February 4, 2010.

After retiring from the military, Archer joined General Foods in White Plains, NY where he became one of the first black corporate vice presidents of a major American company. In 1987, he founded the venture capital firm Archer Asset Management. Archer was a longtime resident New Rochelle, New York.

Archer later in life.

In October 2005, Archer and two fellow Tuskegee veterans, retired Tech Sergeant George Watson Sr. and Master Sergeant James A. Shepherd, visited an air base at Balad, Iraq, to meet with 700 servicemen from a successor unit to his all-black outfit.

"This is the new Air Force," he told The Associated Press. In the dining room, he said, he saw "black, white, Asian, Pacific Islanders, people from different parts of Europe. This," he said, "is what America is."

Archer died on January 27, 2010 in New York City. At a memorial service for Archer held at the Riverside Church on February 4, entertainer and commentator Bill Cosby gave a eulogy.

Awards

Archer was an Honorary Honoree of the American Fighter Aces Association. His P-51C was named "Ina The Macon Belle", after his wife, Ina Burdell Archer.

Archer was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with 18 Clusters, the Distinguished Unit Citation and many other service medals.

Archer and his fellow Tuskegee airmen were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2007.

See also

• Tuskegee Airmen
• Dogfights: The Tuskegee Airmen

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

• Cooper, Charlie, Ann Cooper and Roy La Grone. Tuskegee's Heroes. St. Paul: Minnesota: Motorbooks International Publishing Company, 1996. ISBN 0-76030-282-0.
• Francis, Charles E. and Adolph Caso. The Tuskegee Airmen: The Men Who Changed a Nation. Boston: Branden Books, 1997. ISBN 0-8283-2029-2.
• Tillman, Barrett. "Tales of the Red Tails; Inside the Tuskegee Legend: The men, the machines, the missions." Flight Journal, February 2012.

External links

• Lee Archer's oral history video excerpts at The National Visionary Leadership Project
• Lee Archer on the Internet Movie Database
• Lieutenant-Colonel Lee Archer - Daily Telegraph obituary