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Funeral services celebrating the life of one of the last living original Tuskegee Airman in Arizona took place Friday morning at the World War II memorial in Wesley Bolin Plaza at the Capitol.
George Washington Biggs, a Nogales native, died at the age of 95 in a Tucson senior care facility on Sept. 19, according to his daughter Rose Dickerson-Biggs. He served in World War II, the Vietnam War and the Korean War.
The service opened with a honorary flyover salute provided by Luke Force Air Base and the Pledge of Allegiance. Speakers detailed the impact Biggs had on their lives and the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen.
“Growing up, we never knew our Uncle George was one of the famed Tuskegee Airmen, And my sister said it best: He was my hero, not because of his military records or accomplishments, but just because he was my uncle,” said Michelle Benzenhoefer, Biggs’ niece.
Nate Carr said this exemplifies one of the Tuskegee Airmen’s greatest traits: Humility. He said his father was also an original Tuskegee Airman, but he didn’t find out about it until he was five years into serving in the military himself.
“My dad always wanted me to see further than he had been, that’s why he wanted me to stand on his shoulders,” said Carr.
Biggs joined the U.S. Army Air Corps — a precursor to the modern U.S. Air Force — in 1943 after he turned 18. He requested a position that would allow him to see combat rather than something like a cook, Biggs-Dickerson said, and ended up being placed in the Tuskegee Institute, where Black men trained to fly and maintain combat aircraft and eventually fight in World War II as the Tuskegee Airmen.
“By age 18, George had lived through the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl and at the height of racial segregation in America and the dawn of World War II. But George was ready for war and willing to confront enemies abroad, while fighting against the war of racism waged by those he was willing to die for,” said Kim Covington, senior director at Arizona Community Foundation.
When her father returned to the U.S., Biggs-Dickerson said he and other Black veterans faced discrimination and that white prisoners of war were treated better than them. But discrimination didn’t stop the Biggs family from defending their country.
“We can look back at segregation, at how much has ended, and we’re still not finished. That’s America,” said Carr. “But someone had to start somewhere, and the Tuskegee Airmen were one of those four or five leaders.”
Carr told a story of a snowstorm on December 29, 1944, where white bombing crews landed unannounced on an airfield in Italy and were shocked to find nothing but Black pilots and ground crew. He said the white crews were initially uneasy.
“But for six days, segregation took a backseat to humanity and the American spirit,” he said.
The military history of the Biggs family can be traced to the Civil War, said Benzenhoefer, where two ancestors served in the 68th Regiment United States colored infantry at Trenton Barracks in Pike County, Missouri.
During the ceremony, Alex Lofgren, with Congressman Raúl Grijalva’s office, presented Dickerson-Biggs with an American Flag that flew over the nation’s capitol in her father’s honor and Matt Lubisich, with Congressman Greg Stanton’s office, presented a congressional record honoring Biggs’s service. Wanda Wright read a commendation from Gov. Doug Ducey and presented an Arizona flag that flew over the state’s capitol in Biggs’s honor.
These honors add to the several honors Biggs has already earned with his dedicated service. He and other living Tuskegee Airmen received the Congressional Gold Medal — the highest civilian recognition given by Congress — in 2007.
Biggs-Dickerson said the men were touched by this honor because when George Bush saluted them, it was the first time they had been saluted to, and they realized they finally received the respect they deserved.
“His legacy as one of the Tuskegee Airmen, for me as a Black person, an African American, is the toil and strife and the bravery they went through, just to show the country they were part of this country,” David Bright, who attended the funeral, said.
Bright is a member of the National Association of Buffalo Soldiers and Troopers Motorcycle Club, a motorcycle club for Black veterans that aims on educating communities about the Buffalo Soldiers — Black soldiers who fought between 1866 and 1944.
Bright said he does not know Biggs personally, but that Biggs’s legacy has inspired him throughout his life and service in the military so he wanted to pay his respects.
Nicole Baker, who organized the event with the Arizona Department of Veterans Services, said organizing the service is something she will never forget. She served in the Army from 2011-2018 and takes pride in honoring those who came before her.
“I would love to see, especially our younger generation, really get into knowing and understanding the history and the legacy of our heroes before us,” she said.
Joseph Olano, spokesman for Tuskegee Airmen Inc., said there will be a drive-by parade celebrating the 94th birthday of another original Tuskegee Airman, Asa Hering, at 4 p.m. Saturday at La Jolla Condominiums, 5328 N. 20th St., in Phoenix.
Reporter Perry Vandell contributed to this article.
Get in touch with breaking news reporter Chloe Jones at [email protected] and find her on Twitter at @chloeleejones
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