Alexander Jefferson was a U.S. Air Force veteran who served as a Tuskegee Airman in World War II.
- Died: June 22, 2022 (Who else died on June 22?)
- Details of death: Died at the age of 100.
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A hero and an educator
Jefferson volunteered for the U.S. Army Reserve after graduating from Clark College in Atlanta. He was placed in flight training with the U.S. Army Air Forces the following year, becoming one of the Tuskegee Airmen as he learned to fly. Jefferson flew eighteen escort missions before being shot down in 1944. He was captured by Nazi troops and held as a prisoner of war for nine months before his liberation. As the U.S. Army Air Forces became the U.S. Air Force, Jefferson remained in the service, rising to lieutenant colonel before his retirement in 1969. His decorations include a Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart. He also taught elementary school science in Detroit before becoming assistant principal of his school. Jefferson wrote the memoir “Red Tail Captured, Red Tail Free: Memoirs of a Tuskegee Airman and POW.”
Notable quote
“I wanted to be a research chemist, but after going to war and coming back, I had to go back to school. And with a wife and kids and the mortgage, I said, oh, heck no, I don’t have time enough for that. So I became a schoolteacher teaching science. I had one big hell of an enjoyable life.” —from a 2011 interview for the Veterans History Project
Tributes to Alexander Jefferson
Full obituary: Fox 2
