Milton T. Hall, 1943

SECOND WORLD WAR – TUSKEGEE AIRMEN. Air Force Souvenir Handybook [New York:] United Service Organizations, Inc., [1943]. With approximately 110 inscriptions from students to their flight instructor, Lt. Milton T. HALL (d. 1947), dated 8 August 1943 to 4 March 1945.

About one hundred Tuskegee Airmen thank their African-American flight instructor at the conclusion of their training. Milton Hall was one of only three African-American flight instructors at the fighter transition school at Tuskegee—a fact not lost on his trainees on the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, as evidenced by warmth of their remarks in bidding him farewell as they left for War. Many of Hall's trainees saw combat duty, facing death, capture and internment. Some of the most well-known names found in the Handybook are Daniel "Chappie" JAMES, Jr. (1920-1978), who holds the distinction of becoming the first African-American to reach the rank of four-star general in the U.S. Armed Forces. After receiving his wings in July 1943, James wrote: "To a swell guy who is doing a swell job 'Depend on Hall to keep em on the Ball.' ('Corny but True')." Other important figures include Lee A. ARCHER (1919-2010) who flew 169 combat missions, and was one of only four Tuskegee Airmen to earn three aerial victories in one day, earning a Distinguished Flying Cross. Lt. Cornelius George ROGERS (d. 1944), who signed opposite Archer was not as lucky, returning from an aborted mission over Northern Italy, he reported engine trouble and crashed before reaching his home airfield. Jack Daniels HOLSCLAW (1918-1998) flew 68 combat missions, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross for shooting down two German fighters on 18 July 1944. William R. MELTON (1920-1999) flew over 100 missions over North Africa and Europe. Walter Drake WESTMORLAND (1920-1944) was shot down over Hungary in October 1944. William W. GREEN (1920-1978) flew 123 missions and shot down three German aircraft earning the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Another signer, William B. ELLIS (1916-2010), in addition to a distinguished service career, is best known for his role in the Freeman Field Mutiny in Indiana, when he and fellow Black officers entered an all-White officer's club in April 1945 and refused to leave. When the "mutineers" refused to sign an affidavit acknowledging that their actions violated regulations, they were arrested and imprisoned. Ellis's actions led to an official investigation into illegal segregation in the military, and is considered the first step to official desegregation of the U.S. Armed Forces in 1949.

The recipient of all these sentiments, Milton T. Hall, was an Indiana native. He first served with the Civilian Conservation Corps in the late 1930s. Joining the Army Air Corps, Hall served as an escort pilot before becoming a flight instructor at Tuskegee. Following the war, Hall tragically died in a mid-air collision while piloting his AT-6 during a practice exercise in 1947.

Unpaginated, bound in soft green cloth (dampstains and wear to rear cover and front and back pastedowns) [With:] Hall's CCC yearbook: Indiana District Civilian Conservation Corps 1938-1939, replete with inscriptions from fellow CCC workers; the November 1944 issue of The Talladegan that includes the text of a commencement address by W.E. B. DuBois; and a pair of programs for a production of Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour by the Little There of Talladega College (4 March 1944 and 11 March 1944).