Dr. Roscoe Brown, A Real Life Tuskegee Airmen Reflects

Dr. Brown thanks George Lucas for bringing shining a light on real life history

Red Tails, the action-packed film centered on the lives of the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African-American combat pilots during World War II, is set to hit theaters on January 20.

A stellar script written by John Ridley and Aaron McGruder, spot-on direction by Anthony Hemingway, and never-before-seen special effects, thanks to executive producer George Lucas, all contribute to this story about real heroes. These aviators believed in the potential of America, despite the racism and segregation they faced every day. It was this hope that led them to fight on America’s behalf during the war, all the while knowing America refused to fight for their civil rights at home.

(See Also: Red Tails' Is A Film About Heroes Not Victims)

“It should be known that our generation of young black men thought we could do anything,” Dr. Roscoe C. Brown Jr., a former Tuskegee Airmen, says. “We knew that we were as good as anybody, many times better.

“We were cocky, but we were also good, and because of that we did exactly what we needed to do to protect those bombers to get the job done,” he continues.

Dr. Brown, a former Air Force captain, commanded the 100th Fighter Squadron of the 332nd Fighter Group in World War II. In fact, he was the third fighter pilot to shoot down a German jet fighter.

“Many of us had studied aviation and wanted to be pilots. We made model planes. We talked,” Dr. Brown says. “We had the confidence that we could do this. So that when we look back some 65 years and say, ‘What did we do?’ We did exactly what we expected to do.”

Still, Dr. Brown credits General Benjamin O. Davis Jr., the U.S. Air Force general and commander of the Airmen, as the real hero of the group. Interestingly enough, General Davis isn’t depicted by name in the film.

“We know what we did, and now, thanks to the movie, thanks to HBO, thanks to Cuba Gooding, Terrence Howard, and thanks to George Lucas, everyone will know about us,” Dr. Brown says.

Red Tails hits theaters nationwide on January 20, 2012. Also, visit HonortheAirmen.com for more information on the Tuskegee Airmen.