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Cohen and Acting FAA Administrator Honor Lt. Col. Luke Weathers, Jr., Tuskegee Airman and FAA Air Traffic Specialist

May 11, 2012

MEMPHIS, TN – Acting Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Michael Huerta today joined Rep. Steve Cohen (TN-09) to honor the life and accomplishments of Lt. Col. Luke J. Weathers, Jr., the FAA’s first African American air traffic control specialist in Memphis, and a decorated pilot who flew with the Tuskegee Airmen.

Huerta, Cohen and the Weathers family unveiled a plaque commemorating Weathers’ leadership in integrating air traffic control in Memphis, and his heroic actions as one of the Tuskegee Airmen. The ceremony was held at Memphis International Airport’s Memphis Aviation History display at the east end of the terminal. Weathers died Oct. 15, 2011 at age 90.

“Lt. Col. Luke J. Weathers, Jr. was a true aviation pioneer. Through his quarter century of distinguished service with the FAA, he forged a path for African Americans who joined the agency’s air traffic ranks and went on to make important contributions to the agency’s mission and leadership,” Huerta said.

Weathers began his FAA career as an air traffic specialist in Anchorage, Alaska in 1960. He returned to his hometown in 1965 to work at the now-closed Memphis Flight Service Station. In the mid-1970s, Weathers transferred to the FAA’s Southern Regional Office in Atlanta, where he worked at the Regional Operations Center. He later moved to Washington, D.C., where he worked at FAA Headquarters as a communications specialist. He retired in 1985.

“Lt. Col. Luke Weathers was a hero and a trailblazer who deserves recognition for his many accomplishments, which include serving as an original Red Tails pilot during World War II and helping integrate both the FAA in Memphis and his church, St. Therese Little Flower Catholic Church,” said Rep. Cohen. “I was happy to reach out to the Secretary of the Army so Lt. Col. Weathers could be buried at Arlington National Cemetery and was honored to speak at his interment at the request of his family. This plaque not only recognizes Lt. Col. Weathers for his heroic acts during WWII, but his heroic life which has a lasting impact on Memphis, the United States, and the world.”

Weathers attended Xavier University in New Orleans from 1939 to 1942, then returned to Memphis and enlisted in an experimental training program for African American pilots in Tuskegee, Ala. Weathers began active duty in the Army Air Corps in April 1943 as a fighter pilot who flew P-51 Mustangs and P-39 Airacobras in the 302nd Fighter Squadron. The squadron later merged with the 332nd fighter division – also known as the “Red Tails” – which referred to the pilots’ practice of painting the tails of their planes red. In a nod to his hometown, Weathers named his plane “The Spirit of Beale Street.”

During the war, Weathers flew in North Africa, Italy, France and Germany. He received a Distinguished Flying Cross, as well as an Air Medal with seven Oak Leaf Clusters, American Theater Ribbon, and WWII Victory Medal.

In 2004, Weathers was featured in a painting honoring the Tuskegee Airmen that was unveiled during a ceremony at the Pentagon. The painting depicted Weathers flying his P-51 Mustang as he escorted a damaged B-24 Liberator after a bombing mission in Germany. In 2007, Weathers received the Congressional Gold Medal with 300 of the other original Tuskegee Airmen.