 IN THE SKIES OVER ITALY,
 24-YEAR-OLD FIRST LIEUTENANT
 LUTHER SMITH OF DES MOINES
 WAS ON HIS SECOND
 TOUR OF DUTY.
 AS A MEMBER OF
 THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN,
 OFFICIALLY KNOWN AS
 THE 332ND FIGHTER GROUP,
 SMITH WAS EVENTUALLY ASSIGNED
 TO BOMBER ESCORT DUTY IN 1944.
HIS JOB WAS TO PROTECT AMERICAN
 BOMBERS FROM GERMAN FIGHTERS.
>> THE GERMANS REALIZED THAT
THESE YOUNG BLACK PILOTS
STAYED WITH THE BOMBERS
AND PROTECTED THEM
VERY, VERY EFFECTIVELY.
THE BOMBER CREWS REALIZED,
AS THEY WERE ESCORTED BY
THESE BLACK AVIATORS,
THEY WERE GOING TO GET TO THEIR
TARGET SAFELY AND GET BACK.
AND THAT WAS REALLY THE
BEGINNING OF RACIAL EQUALITY,
WHEN THE WHITE
BOMBER CREWS REALIZED
THESE GUYS PROTECTING THEM
WERE EVERY BIT AS GOOD
AS ANYBODY COULD BE
BECAUSE THEY WERE ABLE TO CARRY
OUT THEIR MISSIONS SUCCESSFULLY.
 ON ONE MISSION
 OVER SOUTHERN FRANCE,
 A GERMAN ME 109 FIGHTER PLANE
 PENETRATED THE FLIGHT
 OF BOMBERS
 SMITH WAS SENT TO PROTECT.
 HE APPROACHED IN
 HIS P-51 MUSTANG.
>> AND AS I DID, I WAS PARALLEL
WITH THE GERMAN AIRPLANE,
AND I COULD SEE IT WAS
JUST A YOUNG PERSON.
HE DIDN'T HAVE
AN OXYGEN MASK ON,
BECAUSE I COULD
SEE HIS FACE.
AND SO IT WAS JUST A YOUTH,
AND TO ME IT APPEARED TO BE
ABOUT A 16- OR
17-YEAR-OLD YOUTH.
AND I COULDN'T
IMAGINE I WAS UP THERE,
GOING TO SHOOT DOWN
SOMEBODY WHO WAS JUST A BOY.
BUT I HAD MY JOB TO DO.
SO I SAID, "WELL, I'M GOING TO
TAKE THE AIRPLANE OUT."
AND I SHOT THE AIRPLANE
AND IT WENT DOWN.
 DURING HIS TOUR OF DUTY,
 SMITH SHOT DOWN TWO
 GERMAN FIGHTER PLANES
 AND DESTROYED TEN GERMAN
 AIRCRAFT ON THE GROUND.
 BY THE END OF THE WAR,
 THE 332ND HAD PERFORMED
 200 ESCORT MISSIONS WITHOUT
 THE LOSS OF A SINGLE BOMBER.
 LATER THAT SAME YEAR,
 AFTER 132 SUCCESSFUL MISSIONS,
 SMITH MET WITH TROUBLE.
 THE BOMBER-ESCORT MISSION
 HE WAS ASSIGNED TO
 HAD BEEN UNEVENTFUL.
 WHILE THE PILOTS
 IN HIS SQUADRON
 WERE RETURNING TO BASE,
 THEY WERE SHOOTING AT
 TRAIN CARS AND
 AIRPLANES ON THE GROUND.
 IT WAS FRIDAY
 THE 13TH OF OCTOBER, 1944.
 NEAR BALATON, HUNGARY,
 NOT FAR FROM BUDAPEST,
 SMITH WAS SHOOTING AT
 SOME RAIL CARS
 AND ONE OF THEM EXPLODED.
SMITH WAS FORCED TO FLY THROUGH
 THE CLOUD OF DEBRIS,
 AND HIS AIRPLANE
 WAS SEVERELY DAMAGED.
 AS HE ATTEMPTED TO BAIL OUT,
 THE PLANE WENT INTO A TAILSPIN
 AND HIS RIGHT FOOT GOT CAUGHT
 INSIDE THE COCKPIT.
>> THE AIRPLANE WAS ON FIRE,
AND I SAID TO MYSELF,
SO THIS IS HOW GUYS GO.
I WAS CAUGHT IN THE AIRPLANE,
AND I WASN'T GOING TO
BE ABLE TO MAKE IT.
 SMITH EVENTUALLY
 GOT OUT OF HIS AIRPLANE,
 CAME TO REST IN A TREE,
 AND WAS CAPTURED
 BY GERMAN SOLDIERS.
 AFTER SOME MAJOR SURGERY
 IN GERMAN HOSPITALS,
 HE SPENT THE NEXT SEVEN MONTHS
 IN A PRISON CAMP.
