Halbert Alexander: Difference between revisions

Halbert Leo Alexander (June 12 1922 – March 25, 1953) was an officer in the U.S. Army Air Force and a fighter pilot with the all-African American 332nd Fighter Group's 99th Fighter Squadron (Tuskegee Airmen or "Red Tails") and the 300th Squadron.

Alexander is best known for winning the U.S. Air Force's 1949 inaugural "Top Gun" team competition with his all-African American 332nd Fighter Group Weapons pilot team.

Halbert Alexander
Born	Halbert Leo Alexander June 12 1922 – March 25, 1953 North Carolina, US
Died	March 25, 1953(1953-03-25) (aged 30) Chelmsford, Massachusetts, US
Resting place	Georgetown Cemetery, Georgetown, Illinois
Occupations	Military officer fighter pilot
Years active	1944–1953

Early life, Family

Halbert Alexander was born on June 12 1922 in North Carolina. He was the son of Halbert Jehue Alexander (1892–1952) and Mattie B. Kaiser Long (1897–1980). One of nine children, Alexander had an older brother, Harvey Reginald Alexander, a Fisk University, University of Southern Illinois, and Duquesne University graduate who received his wings and 2nd Lt. commission as a member of the Tuskegee Airmen on April 15, 1944. Harvey Alexander retired from the United States Air Force Reserve in 1960 with the rank of Captain.

Until his death in 1953, Halbert Alexander was married to Hazel Epps. Hazel remarried after Alexander's untimely passing.

Military Career, Member of the Famed Tuskegee Airmen

On November 20, 1944, Alexander graduated from Tuskegee's Class 44-I-S, receiving his wings and commission as a 2nd Lieutenant. He was assigned to the 99th Pursuit Squadron. His older brother, Harvey Reginald Alexander, also a member of the Tuskegee Airmen, received his wings and 2nd Lt. commission several months earlier on April 15, 1944.

Winner of the 1949 "Top Gun Competition"

In January 1949, the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force sent out a directive to each Air Force group requesting their participation in an aerial weapons competition. Four later in May 1949, Alexander was selected as an alternate pilot within the 332nd Fighter Group Weapons three-member pilot team that would compete and win the U.S. Air Force's inaugural "Top Gun" team competition held at the Las Vegas Air Force Base (now Nellis Air Force Base).

A grueling 10-day event, the competition comprised six events: aerial gunnery at 20,000 feet, aerial gunnery at 12,000 feet, dive bombing, skip bombing, rocket firing and panel strafing. Alexander and his team led from start to finish.

Alexander's team included the 100th Squadron's First Lieutenant Harry Stewart, Jr., the 99th Squadron's James H. Harvey, the 300th Squadron's Captain Alva Temple, and Staff Sergeant Buford Johnson (August 30, 1927 – April 15, 2017) as aircraft crew chief. Harvey and his team competed in P-47N Thunderbolts.

The results and the 3-foot high silver winning trophy, stashed in a Wright Patterson Air Force Base Museum storage area for 55 years, were absent from the U.S. Air Force archives until 1995. Flying F-47Ns, a variant of the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, Temple and his team won against U.S. Air Force fighter group teams in far more advanced aircraft. His teammate, James H. Harvey remarked: "They knew who won, but did not want to recognize us."

Death

On March 25, 1953, Alexander, then 32 years old, was instantly killed today when his F-Sl Mustang nosedived out of a seven-plane formation and exploded in the woods near Chelmsford, Massachusetts. His plane tore through treetops for almost 100 yards before exploding and strewing over a half-mile. Police authorities who found his body identified him as Lt Halbert Alexander, married, of Plymouth, OH.