Flight: The Story of Virgil Richardson, A Tuskegee Airman in Mexico

215 Pages·2004·0.93 MB·English

by  Ben Vinson

Vins-FM.qxd 3/9/04 5:00 PM Page i
Flight
This page intentionally left blank
Vins-FM.qxd 3/9/04 5:00 PM Page iii
Flight
The Story of Virgil Richardson,
A Tuskegee Airman in Mexico
Ben Vinson III
Vins-FM.qxd 3/9/04 5:00 PM Page iv
FLIGHT
© Ben Vinson III,2004
All rights reserved.No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any
manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case
of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
First published 2004 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLANTM
175 Fifth Avenue,New York,N.Y.10010 and
Houndmills,Basingstoke,Hampshire,England RG21 6XS
Companies and representatives throughout the world
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan
division of St.Martin’s Press,LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd.Macmillan® is a
registered trademark in the United States,United Kingdom and other countries.
Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries.
ISBN 1–4039–6618–4 hardback
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Vinson,Ben.
Flight :the story of Virgil Richardson,a Tuskegee airman in Mexico / by Ben Vinson,III
[and] Virgil Richardson.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index.
ISBN1-4039-6618-4 (hc :alk.paper)
1.Richardson,Virgil,1916– 2.United States.Army Air Forces.Fighter Group,332nd.
3.World War,1939–1945—Aerial operations,American.4.Unites States.Army Air
Forces—Airmen—Biography.5.United States.Army Air Forces—African Americans—
Biography.6.Actors—United States—Biography.7.African American actors—Biography.
8.African Americans—Mexico—Biography.9.United States—Ethnic relations—History—
20th century.10.Mexico—Ethnic relations—History—
20th century. I.Richardson,Virgil,1916– II.Title.
E745.V56 2004
973’.0496073’0092—dc22
[B] 2004044539
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd.,Chennai,India.
First edition:November 2004
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America.
Vins-FM.qxd 3/9/04 5:00 PM Page v
For Virgil—In Home of His Memory
December 14,1916–May 15,2004
This page intentionally left blank
Vins-FM.qxd 3/9/04 5:00 PM Page vii
Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction From the Eyes of an Historian 1
Chapter One Virgil: Before the War 9
Chapter Two In the Army Now 25
Chapter Three Days at Tuskegee 39
Chapter Four From Tuskegee Back to War 47
Chapter Five Atlantic Sound 53
Chapter Six A Soldier’s Homecoming 71
Chapter Seven Bienvenidos à México 83
Chapter Eight From Tourist to Resident—Being Black in
Mexico City during the 1950s 91
Chapter Nine Livin’and Workin’the Mexico City Scene 107
Chapter Ten New York Interlude 115
Chapter Eleven Transitions—Back in Mexico during the 1960s 121
Chapter Twelve Border Crossings 133
Epilogue Black American Yankees on Montezuma’s Soil 137
Notes 175
Selected Bibliography 195
Index 201
y y y
Photosection appears between pages 106 and 107.
This page intentionally left blank
Vins-FM.qxd 3/9/04 5:00 PM Page ix
Acknowledgements
A
ll books have a history.Flight is intertwined in the lives and experiences of
more people than I can possibly list. Of course, tremendous gratitude goes to
Mr.Virgil Richardson and his family,who patiently put up with me for many
days on end, for my endless needs for “a ride,” and for my too many probing
questions about the innerworkings of their lives. In particular, I would like to
thank Morris, Lois, Deborah, Charles, and Evette Richardson for their kind-
ness and hospitality.Vincent De Lusia is responsible for hosting the conference
that brought me into contact with Virgil, and Omar Farouk-Roque helped
conceive of this project in its earliest stages.The guidance,support,and insight
of Herbert S. Klein, Louis Pérez, Jr., Richard H. Kohn, Caryl “Caz” Phillips,
Duchess Harris, Gabriel Haslip-Viera, Paul Eiss, Peter Coclanis, Jacqueline
Hall, Rosalind Rosenberg, Herbert Sloan, JoAnn Gustafson, and William
“Sandy” Darity, Jr. all proved instrumental to the research and writing of the
final manuscript.In Mexico,the friendship and comments of Annadale Snider,
Olivia Livera,William Somersille,and Alicia Mejia opened up new avenues of
research. My dedicated student team worked endlessly, sometimes seeing no
sense in their work and numbing their eyes,ears,and hands by reviewing tapes
and transcribing.Thank you, Julie Gilgoff and Tanya Dantus,for your incred-
ible efforts. In Mexico City, Fabiola Melendez was magnificent in tracking
down obscure photographs,documents,and records.I would also like to thank
theNew York Times Book Review.An author’s query published there led to some
very interesting correspondence that helped shape this book. A very special
thanks is extended to my fantastic parents, Ben Vinson, Jr. and Lillie M. Hill
Vinson.Both rolled up their sleeves on this project.My father accompanied me
into the National Archives and fished through a sea of documents for informa-
tion on Virgil’s life. With his trained soldier’s eye, he also carefully read and
gave constructive comments on the first full draft of the manuscript. My
mother not only traveled to West Columbia,Texas, but she also assisted with
several rounds of interviews. Her endless charm placed Virgil at ease, even at
moments when it seemed like he was too tired to answer any further questions.