January 20, 2012 - A member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen was buried in Arlington National Cemetery this morning, the same day that Red Tails, a film dramatizing the pilots' heroic feats, was released in U.S. theaters.During World War II, Luke Weathers Jr. "shot down two German fighter planes while escorting a damaged bomber to its base," the AP reports.
Weathers' widow, Jacqueline Weathers, his children, and others attended Friday's funeral. Many attendees wore red ties and scarves to honor the veteran. As is the case for many funerals in Arlington, the ceremony took place some months after the veteran's death. Weathers died on Oct. 15 in Arizona, where he had moved several years ago.
A recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal, Weathers also earned a Distinguished Flying Cross. In the Red Tails squadron, the native of Memphis, Tenn., flew P-51 and P-39 fighters — he named his plane "The Spirit of Beale Street."
In the Air Force, Weathers rose to the rank of a lieutenant colonel; after the war, he became the first black air traffic controller in Memphis, according to WMC 5 News. read more>>>
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