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'''Wallace Patillo Reed''' (November 22, 1919 – November 12, 1999) was a [[World War II]] U.S. Army officer, U.S. military [[meteorologist]], and the first ever [[African-American]] meteorologist in the U.S. military. Reed served at [[Tuskegee Army Air Field]] in [[Alabama]] as the chief weather officer responsible for |
'''Wallace Patillo Reed''' (November 22, 1919 – November 12, 1999) was a [[World War II]] U.S. Army officer, U.S. military [[meteorologist]], and the first ever [[African-American]] meteorologist in the U.S. military. Reed served at [[Tuskegee Army Air Field]] in [[Alabama]] as the chief weather officer responsible for the all-[[African American]] [[Tuskegee Airmen]], "Red Tails," or among enemy German pilots, “Schwartze Vogelmenschen” ("Black Birdmen"). Reed regularly advised [[Tuskegee Airmen]] pilots and instructors on weather maps and forecasts.<ref name="MIT Black History">MIT Black History. [https://www.blackhistory.mit.edu/story/tuskegee-airmen "Tuskegee Airmen Connecting Flights at MIT."] </ref><ref name=BIRLS>U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010. "Wallace Reed."</ref> |
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Reed is believed to have been the first ever African-American meteorologist at the [[U.S. Weather Bureau]], the predecessor organization of the [[National Weather Service]].<ref name="MIT Black History"/> |
Reed is believed to have been the first ever African-American meteorologist at the [[U.S. Weather Bureau]], the predecessor organization of the [[National Weather Service]].<ref name="MIT Black History"/> |
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Revision as of 17:03, 12 July 2021
Wallace Patillo Reed (November 22, 1919 – November 12, 1999) was a World War II U.S. Army officer, U.S. military meteorologist, and the first ever African-American meteorologist in the U.S. military. Reed served at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama as the chief weather officer responsible for the all-African American Tuskegee Airmen, "Red Tails," or among enemy German pilots, “Schwartze Vogelmenschen” ("Black Birdmen"). Reed regularly advised Tuskegee Airmen pilots and instructors on weather maps and forecasts.[1][2]
Reed is believed to have been the first ever African-American meteorologist at the U.S. Weather Bureau, the predecessor organization of the National Weather Service.[1]
Wallace P. Reed | |
|---|---|
| Born | Wallace Patillo Reed November 22, 1919 |
| Died | November 12, 1999 (aged 80) |
| Resting place | Roosevelt Memorial Park |
| Alma mater | University of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1942-1946 |
Early life
Born Nov. 22, 1919, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Reed was the son of Ralph M. Reed Sr. and Mary Pattillo Reed.[3]
Graduating from Portsmouth High School in 1937, Reed attended the University of New Hampshire, where he earned a degree in mathematics.[4]
Military service
Wallace P. Reed was the first black cadet of the program. With a mathematics degree, he was commissioned as the first black weather officer in February 1942.
At the beginning of the 1940s, the U.S. Army possessed only 62 qualified weather forecasters. To remain a highly functional operation, the Army Air Forces anticipated a minimal requirement of 10,000 weather forecasters and weather observers.[5]
To train a sufficient number of military weather forecasters, the Army Air Forces set up a weather cadet program in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), New York University (NYU) and the California Institute of Technology (CIT), and later with the University of Chicago, the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and a special Army Air Forces program in Grand Rapids, Michigan.[1] The program's prerequisites included degrees in engineering, mathematics, physics, or chemistry, with a minimum of two years of coursework required in the program's later years. Through an extensive search for its second meteorological aviation cadet class in July 1941, MIT officials recruited Reed to join its program.
After graduating as a cadet and completing a three-week post-graduation military meteorologist orientation at Mitchel Field, New York, Reed received his commission into the Army Air Corps as a second lieutenant on March 21, 1942. On the same day, the Army Air Forces assigned Reed to the Tuskegee Army Air Field's inaugural Tuskegee Weather Detachment as base weather officer. Reed would become the first African-American meteorologist in the U.S. military.[1][5]
Reed assumed his new assignment three weeks after the March 7, 1942, graduation of Tuskegee's first fighter pilot class of cadets: future Tuskegee Airmen Commander and future U.S. four-star general and Captain Benjamin O. Davis Jr., 2nd Lt. Charles DeBow Jr.(Feb 13, 1918 – April 4, 1968),[6] 2nd Lt. George S. Roberts (aka "Spanky" Roberts) (September 24, 1918-March 8, 1984),[7] 2nd Lt. Mac Ross (1912-1944),[8] and 2nd Lt. Lemuel Custis (1915 – 2005).[9] They would collectively become the first African American military pilots.[10]
Weather Officer Corps
As a lieutenant and as later as a captain, Reed created a fully operational weather station to provide up-to-date forecasts and weather briefings to flight school officers and instructors.[4] Reed led 15 enlisted men and officers, preparing several weather officers for deployment overseas. Four of Reed's officers would eventually be deployed with combat squadrons in the Mediterranean.[11] Though his weather detachment's officer corps represented only 0.2 percent of all U.S. military weather officers,[12] Reed's all-African American weather officer corps included:
- Charles E. Anderson (1919–1994), a chemistry graduate of Lincoln University in Missouri), Anderson was a 1943 graduate of the Army Air Forces' TTC program in meteorology at the University of Chicago. On January 13, 1944, Anderson was transferred to Selfridge Field in Michigan, serving as weather officer for the 553d Fighter Squadron, the replacement training unit for the 332rd Fighter Group (the "Tuskegee Airmen"). In May 1944, Anderson was transferred to the Walterboro Army Air Base in South Carolina, and was the first African American to receive a Ph.D. in meteorology.[4][13]
- Lt. John Benjamin Branche (2 Jan 1922 - 13 Aug 2006), a graduate of Queens College who retired as a major, attended Cornell Medical School, and became the Chief of Pediatrics at Mercy Hospital in Rockville Center, New York, and Nassau County Health Commissioner.[14][15]
- Lt. Grant Lafayette Franklin (21 Jun 1918 - 20 Apr 2016), a Langston University mathematics graduate and one of the two final black weather officer graduates of the Grand Rapids AAF Weather Training Center in September 1943. Served as Assistant Weather Officer; received instruction in forecasting.[13] After World War II, Franklin earned a Master's Degree from Atlanta University and a Medical Degree from Meharry Medical College, practicing general surgery in Cleveland, Ohio for over 40 years.[15]
- Horace King, a mathematics graduate from Knoxville College and a product of the University of Chicago cadet program. In April 1948, King transferred from Lockbourne AFB in Ohio to Fort Richardson, Alaska. After graduating from the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) in 1951, King taught at the Chanute AFB weather school until 1955. In 1964, King retired as a lieutenant colonel.[13]
- Lt. Robert Maurice Preer, Sr., chemistry graduate from Morehouse College in Atlanta; died in 2008 at age 90 in Florida; father of 1965 MIT graduate Robert Maurice Preer, Jr.[13][16][17][14][15]
- Lt. Archie Williams (May 1, 1915 – June 24, 1993), a UCLA weather cadet program graduate, UC Berkeley mechanical engineering graduate, and 1936 Summer Olympics gold medalist and 400 metres world record holder. Though a civilian flight instructor at Tuskegee, Williams was considered too old at age 27 to enter fighter pilot flight training and was sent to UCLA for the weather officer course.[13][18][14][15]
- John Willis, a former aerial photographic and photogrammetric engineering assistant for the Alaskan Branch of the U.S. Geological Survey. An education graduate from Trenton State Teachers College and graduate of Howard University, Willis was one of the final two African American cadets from the MIT program. On January 31, 1944, Willis was transferred from Tuskegee to the 553rd FS. In March 1944, Willis was transferred again, to the 477th Bombardment Group.[13]
- Lt. Paul Wise, one of the two final black weather officer graduates of the Grand Rapids AAF Weather Training Center in September 1943. Served as Assistant Weather Officer; received instruction in forecasting.[13][14][15]
Reed's Enlisted Corps
When he began his career at Tuskegee, Reed had five enlisted weathermen in his ranks, all of them trained at Chanute Field. Upwards of forty enlisted men would work under Reed at Tuskegee. Based on performance and standardized testing, the vast majority of Reed's enlisted staffers were awarded the AAF Weather Observer Badge.[5]
Post-World War II years
On March 11, 1946, Reed completed his military service.[2] After the war, Reed relocated to Manila in the Philippines, where he worked for Pan American Airways.[14] Reed became an official with the U.S. Weather Bureau at Nickols Field in Manila, working there for over 30 years until returning to the United States years later.[1]
Living in Alaminos, Pangasinan, and Sampaloc, Manila, for 34 years, Reed met and married Raymunda N. “Nena” Medrano (March 15, 1924 ~ February 7, 2020), his wife for 46 years.[19] They had two children, son Reynoldo N. Reed and daughter Erlinda N. Reed.[3]
Death
On November 12, 1999, Reed dies in Los Angeles, California. He is interred at Roosevelt Memorial Park in Los Angeles.
References
- ^ a b c d e MIT Black History. "Tuskegee Airmen Connecting Flights at MIT."
- ^ a b U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010. "Wallace Reed."
- ^ a b Seacoast Online. "Obituaries from November 24, 1999: Wallace P. Reed."
- ^ a b c Alicia Wasula. Weather Blog: Shade Tree Meteorology. "The Famous Tuskegee Airmen…and Meteorologists." June 4, 2020
- ^ a b c Joe Martucci, "Black Americans broke weather barriers during WWII, work still to go". The Press of Atlantic City, Feb 27, 2018.
- ^ Caf Rise Above. "Charles Henry DeBow Jr."
- ^ Caf Rise Above. "George S. 'Spanky' Roberts."
- ^ Caf Rise Above. "Mac Ross."
- ^ Custis was the last surviving member of the first Tuskegee Airmen class. A graduate of Howard University in 1939, Custis became Hartford, Connecticut's first African American police officer. Cedar Hill Cemetery Foundation. "Lemuel R. Custis - 1915 – 2005."
- ^ National Park Service. "Who Are the Tuskegee Airmen?"
- ^ Air Force Weather Historian: A Quarterly Newsletter of the Air Force Weather History Office. Autumn 2004, Volume 2, Issue 4.
- ^ Tuskegee (Weather) Airmen Black Meteorologists during World War II. Gerald A. White Jr., staff historian -HQ Air Force Reserve Command.
- ^ a b c d e f g The Free Library. "Tuskegee (weather) airmen: black meteorologists in World War II."
- ^ a b c d e Nellis Airforce Base. "Valentine's Day marks 1st for African American Meteorologist." Jerry White, 99th Air Base Wing Historian. February 21, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e The Tribune Democrat. "These trailblazers were America's 1st Black meteorologists." Ashley Williams. Feb 13, 2021 https://www.tribdem.com/news/editorials/columns/these-trailblazers-were-america-s-1st-black-meteorologists/article_2d5446f2-6d5e-11eb-af9d-272eda5cbabc.html
- ^ Bamit. "Reflections of an MIT Student Activist, Part III: Uniting the Spirit of the BSU through Music." Jul 31, 2017. https://medium.com/bamit-review/reflections-of-an-mit-student-activist-d2035740e2ff
- ^ Legacy. "Robert Maurice Preer."
- ^ Fox 2 Detroit. "From Olympic Gold to Weather Forecasting. A Black History Month Weather or Not". Lori Pinson. February 12, 2021.
- ^ Lighthouse Memorials & Receptions. "Raymunda Medrano Reed." https://lafuneral.com/obits/raymunda-medrano-reed/