Photo: Kim Tunnicliffe/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — One of the last surviving members of the Tuskegee Airmen, the nation's first all-Black military aviation division, has been immortalized at Boston Logan International Airport with a mural of his person outside the United Service Organizations facility in Terminal C.
During an opening ceremony honoring his service on Monday, Governor Charlie Baker promoted 95-year-old Enoch O'Dell "Woody" Woodhouse from Lieutenant Colonel to Brigadier General in the state militia. Woodhouse says the murals depicting himself and his fellow Tuskegee Airmen do more than just recognize the past: they serve as inspiration for the future generations.
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"I've never been promoted quite in the same five minutes, but it is an honor that I will forever cherish. To me, this is not about me, but about the possibility for America," Woodhouse said.
Woodhouse has said in the past that black people in the military had to defeat Nazism abroad from the sky during World War II and racism at home.
"This guy just by who he is and what he does has been breaking down barriers and changing hearts and minds his entire life. He exemplified a community that came forward and defended this country and served heroically and broke down barriers as a result of what they did," Baker said.
WBZ's Kim Tunnicliffe (@KimWBZ) reports.
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