WASHINGTON, D.C.  -  Sixty years ago this week, our nation took another important step forward towards helping create a more racially integrated society.

World War II had ended. Our nation was transitioning from wartime to peace, and Americans were turning their focus to matters at home.

Like all our returning heroes, our African American soldiers like East Alabama’s Tuskegee Airmen fought bravely overseas for our freedoms.

Yet it was those same African American soldiers who returned knowing many of the freedoms they were fighting for overseas were still denied to them at home.

On the heels of the enormous and selfless sacrifices paid by those in uniform, President Harry S. Truman confronted that injustice head-on.

On July 26, 1948, Truman signed Executive Order 9981, which ordered in our military “the equality of treatment of all persons in the Armed Services regardless of their race, color, religion or national origin.”

This Executive Order paved the way for the beginning of the integration of our Armed Forces. It would prove to be another critically important step for helping more fully integrate our society.

This week a ceremony was held in the Capitol Rotunda recognizing the 60th Anniversary of the beginning of the integration of the Armed Forces.

The ceremony follows the recent House passage of my resolution honoring the occasion.
That bill, H. Con. Res 297, honors the 60th Anniversary of the Integration of the Armed Forces, and was co-sponsored by my friend and colleague, Rep. Kendrick Meek from Florida, and the entire Alabama Congressional delegation.

The resolution helps pay tribute to the contributions of our African American soldiers, and helps mark the actual 60th anniversary of the signing of this order.

Of these brave American heroes, I was also honored to have the opportunity to once again help recognize the contributions of the Tuskegee Airmen, who were also recognized at the ceremony in the Capitol.

As most folks know, these brave African American pilots trained right in East Alabama at historic Moten Field in Macon County.

During World War II, the Tuskegee Airmen became one of the most highly decorated units in the Armed Forces. They came home after the war to receive some of our nation’s top military honors.

The beginning of the integration of our armed services did not solve overnight the injustices faced by so many African Americans, but it did help the process of healing so many wrongs here at home.

We are a better and stronger nation because of the selfless contributions of brave Americans like the Tuskegee Airmen. I hope these Congressional actions help further highlight the importance of their service.

Please write or visit me at any of my district offices or on the web at www.house.gov/mike-rogers.