Tuskegee Airman attends graduation of Class 13-07

Published April 8, 2013

VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- When 2nd Lt. Marcel Trott received his pilot wings April 5, at Vance Air Force Base, a very special family friend was in the audience. A friend who had received his pilot wings 70 years earlier.

Retired Air Force Col. Charles McGee, a Tuskegee Airman who flew 409 fighter combat missions during three major conflicts, watched as Trott's mother and father pinned on his new pilot wings.

McGee earned his wings when he graduated with Class 43-F, June 30, 1943, and became part of the all African-American pursuit squadron based in Tuskegee, Ala.

Trott will continue his Air Force flying career in KC-135 Stratotankers at Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash.