airforcemag | President Donald Trump honored Tuskegee Airman Charles McGee during
his State of the Union address on Feb. 4, hours after pinning stars on
McGee’s shoulders in the Oval Office.
McGee, who turned 100 on Dec. 7, was honorarily promoted from colonel
to brigadier general in the 2020 defense policy bill.
The Air Force
legend served three decades in uniform, launching his career in the U.S.
Army Air Corps. McGee escorted bombers over Germany, Austria, and the
Balkans in the P-39Q Airacobra, P-47D Thunderbolt, and the P-51 Mustang
during World War II. During the Korean War, McGee flew the F-51 on 100
interdiction missions from Japan, and he flew an additional 173
reconnaissance missions in the RF-4C during Vietnam.
Throughout his career, McGee flew a record 409 combat
missions, more than any other pilot in the three wars.
“Incredible story. After more than 130 combat missions in
World War II, he came back home to a country still struggling for civil rights
and went on to serve America in Korea and Vietnam,” Trump said. He added, “Gen.
McGee, our nation salutes you. Thank you, sir.”
Trump also offered a glimpse of future
generations of airmen, touting the U.S. Space Force—the nation’s newest
military service—and honoring McGee’s grandson, Iain Lanphier, an eighth grader
in Arizona, who “aspires to go to the Air Force Academy” and one day work for
the Space Force.
“Most people look up at space. Ian says, ‘I want to look down on the world.’”
