James T. Wiley: Difference between revisions

James T. Wiley
Born	James Thomas Wiley August 7, 1918 Evansville, Indiana, US
Died	May 3, 2000(2000-05-03) (aged 81) Seattle, Washington, US
Resting place	Non-Cemetery Burial
Occupations	Military officer fighter pilot
Years active	1942–1965

James Thomas Wiley (August 7, 1918 – May 3, 2000) was a U.S. Army Air Force/U.S. Air Force officer and combat fighter pilot of the 332nd Fighter Group's 99th Pursuit Squadron, best known as the Tuskegee Airmen or "Red Tails". He was one of 1,007 documented Tuskegee Airmen Pilots.

Wiley is noteworthy as one of the United States' first twenty-six African American combat fighter pilots. On July 3, 1942, Wiley graduated from the Tuskegee Advanced Pilot Cadet program as a member of the fourth-ever Cadet Class Single Engine Section SE-42-F. He and fellow Tuskegee Airmen pilot Graham Smith were the first African American pilots ever to land during combat readiness in North Africa.

Early life

James T. Wiley' was born on August 7, 1918 in Evansville, Indiana in Vanderburgh County. He was the grandson of "Wiley" (no other name is recorded - henceforth referred to as "elder Wiley"), a formerly enslaved African American who, as a teenager, had escaped from the Wiley plantation in South Carolina during the U.S. Civil War. In 1865, the elder Wiley and his brother followed General Sherman's army on their way up north. Though the elder Wiley's brother passed away enroute to the North, the elder Wiley eventually settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, married, and had several children who became college graduates, including James Garfield Wiley (May 16, 1881 - February 3, 1959), James T. Wiley's father. Though the elder Wiley completed a degree in civil engineering, he was unable to obtain employment from white-own engineering firms because of racial discrimination. As an alternative career, the elder Wiley became a postal worker.

Though born in Indiana, James T. Wiley was raised in the Hill District of western Pennsylvania by his father James Garfield Wiley (May 16, 1881 - February 3, 1959), and mother, Allie Lena Stewart (November 17, 1881 — December 24, 1958 of Mount Vernon, Indiana. Before Wiley's birth, James Garfield Wiley and Allie Lena Stewart married on November 5, 1914 in Cook, Illinois. The Wileys' children included James T. Wiley, Carolyn Victoria Wiley (1922–2009), Logan William Wiley (1920–2010), Mary Evans Wiley (1915–2012), and William Stewart Wiley (1920–1923).

Wiley attended high school in the Pittsburgh Public School system. He attended University of Pittsburgh on scholarship, majoring in Physics and graduating in 1940. Though most of Wiley's white physics classmates obtained immediate employment from large corporations, Wiley was only able to secure a job as a chauffeur.

Wiley was married to Ruby Ethylynn Morris Wiley (1919–2008) for 55 years. They had two children: daughter Mary and son Jim. At the time of his death in 2000, Wiley and his wife had eight grandchildren.

Civil Pilot Training

In 1941, Wiley saw local advertising for no-cost, Civil Pilot Training Program flying lessons at the local airfield. After quitting his chauffeur job, Wiley became the only non-white individual admitted among five white students. Weeks later, Wiley graduated from Civil Pilot Training, obtaining his commercial and instructor pilot ratings. After graduation, Wiley and his fellow pilot graduates went to a local restaurant to celebrate. When the restaurant refused to serve Wiley based on his race, all six men immediately departed the restaurant in a show of solidarity.

Though his white civil pilot cohorts were able to secure immediate job offers as pilots, Wiley did not immediately receive an offer until he applied for an opening for a flight instructor at Tuskegee Institute's Civil Pilot Training Program. In the Fall 1941, Wiley joined Tuskegee Institute's Civil Pilot Training Program as a faculty member.

Military Service, Tuskegee Airmen

In 1942, Wiley joined the U.S. Army Air Corps's Advanced Flight Training at the Tuskegee Army Airfield. On July 3, 1942, Wiley graduated from the program's four-ever Cadet Class Single Engine Section SE-42-F, earning his wings and a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant. Wiley's parents attended the graduation ceremonies. The U.S. Army Air Corps assigned Wiley to the 332nd Fighter Group's 99th Fighter Squadron.

While logging flight training hours at an air field in Tallahassee, Florida without his normal African American ground crew, Wiley crashed his aircraft after a racist white crew person likely affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan tampered and sabotaged his aircraft.

In April 1943, Wiley and his squadron were sent to North Africa in Casablanca. Wiley became the 99th Squadron's flight leader. On May 5, 1943: Wiley and Graham Smith were the 99th Fighter Squadron's first two P-40 pilots to land in North Africa, at Oued N’ja in French Morocco. In late 1943, Wiley and his squadron moved from North Africa to Sicily. After buying a Ducati motorcycle on the island, Wiley crashed into a truck, landing him in the hospital for several days.

As flight leader, Wiley led squadron planes on ground attacks upon a German troop train with 500 enemy soldiers. Wiley destroyed the train's engine and boiler, causing the German soldiers to scurry off the train. Wiley flew 101 combat missions during World War II. In Spring 1944 after his hands had developed a constant tremor, Wiley boarded a ship enroute to the United States. When he returned to Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Courier and Pittsburgh Mayor, Cornelius D. Scully, declared June 26, 1944 as "Wiley Day". The city paraded Wiley down its Main Street.

After World War II, Wiley remained in the U.S. Air Force until his retirement as a full-bird Colonel in 1965.

Post-Military

After leaving the U.S. Air Force, Wiley became an air force plant representative and customer engineer at Boeing in Seattle, Washington where he worked on the Lunar Orbiter. When Wiley moved his family into a modest residential neighborhood, his white neighbors began to sell their homes during a wave of white flight.

Wiley was a member of the Queen City Yacht Club. He also enjoyed counseling young people as a volunteer for King County Juvenile Court.

Death

On May 3, 2000, Wiley passed away from a heart attack at his home in Seattle, Washington. He was 81 years old. His memorial service held at the University Unitarian Church in Seattle was attended by over 400 people and was covered by local TV news media. Wiley was interred in a non-cemetery burial.

See also

• Executive Order 9981
• List of Tuskegee Airmen
• List of Tuskegee Airmen Cadet Pilot Graduation Classes
• Military history of African Americans