| Original Caption: “First Lieutenant Lee Rayford…who has returned to the United States from Italy where he served with the Ninety-Ninth Fighter Squadron. The nature of his assignment here has not been announced. Other pilots formerly assigned to the Ninety-Ninth now back in America include First Lieutenants Walter I. Lawson, Charles W. Dryden, Graham Smith and Louis R. Purnell.” United States Army Air Force 1st Lieutenant Lee Rayford (April 1, 1918 – April 29, 1967) from Cheyney, Pennsylvania, graduated from Lincoln University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Science. He joined the United States Army Air Force in 1941 and graduated in Class 42E-E-SE of the Tuskegee Airmen, the 3rd cohort to finish training, on May 20, 1942. As a 2nd Lieutenant, Rayford deployed to Europe with the 332nd Fighter Group, led by Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr. (December 18, 1912 – July 4, 2002). He flew his 1st combat mission on June 2, 1943, over Pantelleria. He engaged Nazi German aircraft for the 1st time on June 9, 1943. His aircraft was damaged in combat on June 18, 1943. He was reassigned from the 99th Fighter Squadron to the 301st Fighter Squadron on December 4, 1943, promoted to captain, and assumed command on February 28, 1944, replacing Captain Charles h. DeBow (February 13, 1918 – April 4, 1986) due to injuries. Under his flight command, the assembled North American P-51 Mustangs of the 332nd destroyed 11 Nazi German fighters on July 18, 1944, loitering over the Undine-Treviso area while waiting for the 5th Bomb Wing. A further 2 Nazi aircraft were destroyed over the Luftwaffe (“Naxi German Air Force”) base at Memmingen, Austria. Rayford won the Distinguished Flying Cross on August 12, 1944, for an attack strafing radar stations in Southern France. Brigadier General Dean C. Strother (February 12, 1908 – September 24, 2000) presented the award in a ceremony on January 1, 1945. He then returned to the United States; here he is pictured in a North American AT-6 Texan trainer aircraft at Turner Army Airfield. He commanded Howard University’s Reserve Officer’s Training Corps (ROTC) Program and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. United States Army Air Force 1st Lieutenant Walter Irving “Ghost” Lawson (November 7, 1919 – February 26, 1952) of Chancellor, Virginia, earned his undergraduate degree at Virginia States College. He survived the 1st fatal accident in Tuskegee training while in the 4th class, but graduated in the 5th class SE-42-G. Lawson was part of the 1st group of 99th Fighter Squadron pilots to be deployed overseas. Lawson flew missions over Sicily and Italy in 1943. Promoted to Captain, Lawson served in Korea and Japan after World War II. He was killed in a flying accident when his 343rd Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron Boeing RB-50G Superfortress crashed at Offutt Field in Omaha, Nebraska, and exploded. Lawson and 14 others died and 12 were injured. United States Army Air Force 1st Lieutenant Charles W. “A-Train” Dryden (September 16, 1920 – June 24, 2008) attended Stuyvesant High School in New York City, where he was class President. As a graduate of Tuskegee class SE-42-C, Dryden was 1 of the 1st 8 African American fighter pilots, including Davis. Deploying with the 99th Fighter Squadron, he flew in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. With Reyford, he engaged Nazi German aircraft on June 9, 1943. He was court-martialed back in the United States for flying demonstrations to protest Jim Crow. He became a Professor of Aviation at Howard University. He was a Reconnaissance pilot in Korea, Japan, and Germany before he retired in 1962. He logged 4,000 hours during his military career. United States Army Air Force 1st Lieutenant Graham “Peepsight” Smith (April 19, 1919 – April 30, 1951) was the 1st African American fighter pilot to land in North Africa. He graduated from Class SE-42-F on July 3, 1942, after graduating from Negro Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina. His brother, Reginald V. Smith (September 15, 1925 – February 7, 1946), graduated from Tuskegee Flight School’s Class 45-E-SE to fly medium bombers but was killed during further training at Tuskegee. Graham transferred back to the United States in 1944. He was declared Missing in Action when his aircraft was shot down by anti-aircraft artillery during a combat mission near Miudong, North Korea on December 31, 1952, and declared dead a year after his last mission. United States Army Air Force 1st Lieutenant Louis R. Purnell, Sr. (April 5, 1920 – August 10, 2001) attended from Lincoln University. He earned a civilian pilot license while still an undergraduate and wrote to the National Association for Colored People asking for help to enlist in the United States Army Air Force as a pilot. They sent him an application for the Tuskegee Program. He graduated with Smith in Class SE-42-F on July 3, 1942. He flew 44 missions with the 99th Fighter Squadron when he was hit by a runaway jeep while sleeping. His career was followed closely by the African American press. He held a series of jobs that he found tedious until he was hired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1961. Originally a paleontologist and oceanographer, he became the National Air and Space Museum’s 1st Black curator. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0446.jpg |
| Image Size | 615.30 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2924 x 2260 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | Office for Emergency Management, Office of War Information |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | January 1, 1944 |
| Location | |
| City | Albany |
| State or Province | Georgia |
| Country | United States |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NWDNS-208-NP-6EEE-1 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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