Retired lieutenant colonel George Hardy, 87, helped break down military racial barriers as a Tuskegee Airman, a topic he’ll be talking about at a Black History event called “They Dared to Fly” in Lakeland.

"When I went into the service in '43, racial segregation was rigidly enforced," Hardy said. "No fraternization, that is mixing with races. So, we were completely segregated at Tuskegee and even overseas."

Hardy said he was only 18-years-old when he learned how to be a fighter pilot in Tuskegee, Alabama.

"It's in those towns that you know what hatred is when you'd see some of us come-in in uniform and whites in the town look at you and you see the hatred in their eyes," he said. “It's just something you never forget."

Hardy began his career as a second lieutenant in the all-black 99th Fighter Squadron, escorting bombers over Germany during World War II, in a P-51 “Mustang” fighter plane.

“This airplane could go with the bombers as far as they had to go. Take them to the target and bring them back,” Hardy said. “The P-51 was a real airplane.”

After flying 21 missions, Hardy left the Air Force in 1946 to pursue an engineering degree at New York University. He was asked to come back in 1949 and was assigned to the 19th Bomb Group in Guam.
 
“I was the only colored person in the group,” Hardy said. “I was a maintenance officer supervising about 30 airmen, all white.”
 
Hardy said the racial barriers were starting to come down but he still experienced discrimination during the Korean War, when a new squadron commander would not allow him to fly.
 
"I was in the right seat cockpit going through my checklist and I hear someone say, ‘Hardy get down out of the airplane,’” he said. “Pulled me down and replaced me. He didn't want me flying."
 
Hardy said that B-29 “Superfortress” bomber ended up being shot down during the flight.
 
"The airplane with my crew on board was shot down over North Korea," he said. “It was attacked by two fighters, the engine set on fire and they couldn’t put it out. So, all had to bail out.”
 
Hardy said two airmen were captured and later died in a prison camp. The bomber commander along with the rest of the crew were rescued.
 
“That was the first B-29 lost in Korea with my crew on board and he pulled me off of it just before take-off,” Hardy said. “The aircraft commander, when he got back said, ‘George, if you’d been there I don’t think it would’ve happened.’”

The squadron commander who wouldn’t let Hardy fly was replaced a short time later.

“His replacement put me back on flying again,” he said. “So, I got to fly my 45 missions over Korea.”

After World War II

Ten years later, Hardy said he ended up working again for that same squadron commander and his attitude toward blacks had changed.

“He’s now a full colonel and he was my immediate boss,” Hardy said. “I couldn’t have a commanding officer who treated me any better than he did. Somehow he had made a change as far as I was concerned.”

Hardy also flew 70 missions during the Vietnam War as the pilot of a AC-119 “Stinger” Gunship.

“You just fly always in a left turn because the guns are fixed,” he said.

Hardy retired as a lieutenant colonel after serving 28-years in the military. He was part of a group of Tuskegee Airmen who were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2007. Hardy said he’ll never forget what President George W. Bush said to the group at the time.

"President Bush was there at the ceremony and most of us liked the idea that he said during the thing, ‘for most of the salutes you didn't get, I salute you,’" he said.

Hardy said he’s proud of the role he played breaking down racial barriers in the military as one of the nation’s first black pilots.

"When I left the service, it was a completely different service, as far as race is concerned," he said. "I feel fortunate I was able to experience all of this. When you talk about history, to see the change in this country.”

Hardy will be a guest speaker at the “2013 Legends and Legacies Symposium Series” at Fantasy of Flight in Lakeland, Feb. 7-9th. Tickets for adults cost $29.95, the price for children ages 6-12 is $15.95.