March 27, 2026
FROM GRIFFIN BATES: At 4 PM on Friday, April 3, Steuben County Historical Society will offer a free program on the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II. Michael A. Joseph, Chapter Historian of the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., will deliver the presentation at Bath fire hall. Drastic needs for more military personnel, and demands of more opportunity for African Americans, led to an experimental program in which Black Americans could TRY to become military pilots. Many Americans expected that they would fail, and many Americans WANTED them to fail. But they entered combat in 1943, and served with distinction throughout the rest of the war. Steuben County has a particular connection through George Haley, a graduate of Bath-Haverling High School. He paused his studies at Syracuse to join, train, fly, and fight as one of the Tuskegee Airmen. After the war he finished his Syracuse degree, joined the new U.S. Air Force, flew in Korea and Vietnam, and retired as a lieutenant colonel. Many Tuskegee Airmen flew Curtiss P40 Warhawks, with components manufactured in Hammondsport by Mercury Aircraft.
PHOTO: George Haley of Bath entered the military through the Tuskegee Airmen, and retired as a lieutenant colonel.
