ABOUT THE AUTHORS

RED TAIL

A Tuskegee Airman's Rendezvous with Destiny

From Karen Patterson: I first met Robert Martin in February 2012 when he came to St. Andrew for Black History Month. He had just turned ninety-three. When he stood to be introduced, he received a standing ovation. We all recognized the remarkable achievement of this unpretentious man, yet we couldn't know about everything he had encountered and overcome during his lifetime.

Later, I asked him whether he had thought about putting his remarkable experiences into writing. He had indeed started the project, but now he thought it was too late to commit his story to a book.

"Maybe not," I said, and thus began a twelve-year journey to publish his story--six with Bob Martin's collaboration and six after he passed away, as the work still had to be organized, polished, and published. It was my great honor to work with such a remarkable man and to finally finish what we had started together.

Karen Patterson studied English on a graduate level at DePaul University in Chicago. She has written various short stories and articles, but this is her first book.

From Bob Martin: Flying for my country was the greatest adventure of my life. But when the story of the Tuskegee Airmen is told, I want people to know about our success as military men as well as pilots. We did not have anyone groomed to step in as leaders, yet the men chosen to lead took up the reins and performed. The ability was there, and they performed very well.

You might ask why Black people would want to fight for a country that treated us as second-class citizens, that hadn't given us opportunities for leadership. We had to fight for our civil rights at home at the same time we were fighting the enemy abroad. But wasn't it better to fight Hitler over there than here? And what other country were we going to fight for, anyway? Black people have developed this country just as much as anyone else who came here. And I pledge allegiance to this nation because it's the one I know.

Capt. Robert Martin served in the US Air Corps during World War II as one of the celebrated Tuskegee Airmen. Afterwards, he worked for the City of Chicago as an electrical engineer. He modeled civic responsibility and remained engaged right up until his death at the age of 99.

Robert Martin with Co-Author Karen Patterson