My Story

My only goal as an 11-year-old in Detroit was to get a job in a car factory since my mom, cousins, and great-uncle were all working in the automobile industry. However, at the age of 12, my grandmother passed away, necessitating for my family to fly to Valdosta, Georgia. This was my first flight on any aircraft and I wanted to understand what made an airplane fly and how the pilot knew how to get from point A to point B. The aviation seed was planted.

My junior high school counselor found out about my interest in aviation and suggested that I attend an aviation high school called Aero Mechanic High School (later renamed Davis Aerospace Technical High School after General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.), which was located at Detroit City Airport.

It was at Aero, where my math teacher, Mr. Gill Cargill, introduced me to the Tuskegee Airmen, he himself being one of these inspirational men. Over the next 3 years, I learned of the role they played in dispelling myths that African-Americans were not capable of flying planes during WWII. He would share stories from the days of training at Morton Airfield in Alabama. He also related that the newly elected Mayor Coleman Young, the first Black mayor of Detroit, Michigan, was also a Tuskegee Airmen.

I joined the Michigan Air Guard while still in high school--the beginning of a wonderful 35-year military career. During my career, I went from an Airman 1st Class to Lt. Colonel. I flew the F4 Phantom as a Weapon System Officer (WSO) and served as a Navigator on KC135 Air Fuelers with over 1,000 hours of flight time. My aviation career in the military also enabled me to travel the world, something I never thought about while growing up in Detroit.

One of the proudest moments of my military career was having Tuskegee Airman, Mr. Lewis Lynch (who had become a good friend a few years earlier), pin my silver Lt. Colonel leaf on my shoulder during my promotion ceremony. In memory and honor of Mr. Lewis and Mr. Cargill, who touched my life and made a difference, I would like to make a difference in a young person’s life with an interest in aviation with a scholarship/donation.

Honorably Retired Lt. Colonel Henderson Smith III

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