ALEXANDRIA, Va.,—PenFed Credit Union is a participating sponsor of the Tuskegee Airmen Foundation’s celebration of the men and women who were part of the Tuskegee Experience that began 75 years ago at Tuskegee Army Airfield, in Tuskegee, Ala., March 22, 1941.
PenFed senior leaders, board Member and retired Army Col. Lonnie Stith, President and CEO James Schenck, and EVP of Global Fixed Assets, Rocky Mitchell, traveled to Montgomery, Ala. to honor the Tuskegee Airmen on their 75th anniversary. Stith noted that the famed Tuskegee Airmen demonstrated their mettle and acquitted themselves with distinction in combat long before President Harry S. Truman ended segregation in the military by signing Executive Order 9981 July 26, 1948.
“The Tuskegee Airmen shattered stereotypes of African Americans by taking to the skies over Europe to battle the German Luftwaffe,” Stith said. “However, while on the ground at their overseas bases, they often found that the discrimination they’d faced at home in the states had simply been imported.”
“We had the pleasure of meeting people who were not only eyewitnesses to history, but active participants who did their part to defeat a regime that threatened the world,” said Schenck. “Their love of country and willingness to fight to defend it—even in the face of such overwhelming adversity is eye-watering. While I am humbled by the Tuskegee Airmen’s sacrifices and the obstacles they overcame, words can hardly express the pride I feel for them as fellow Americans.”