Hoosier member of Tuskegee Airmen dies

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH/AP) - Indianapolis has lost a part of living history. Walter Palmer, one of Indiana's last living members of the famed World War II black fighter pilots known as the Tuskegee Airmen, died at age 87.

At age 21, Palmer stepped into his first military bombing run, and a part of history. He trained in Tuskegee, Alabama to become one of America's first black military airmen. But Palmer fought a second war at home, racism in the segregated South.

Lt. Palmer flew 158 missions over Italy and Germany during World War II. He was one of the elite "Red Tails", a group that compiled the best bomber escort record of the war.

An eye injury in an auto accident ended Palmer's military career. He and his wife Rosalind Palmer moved to Indianapolis from his native New York in the early 1970s.

Decades later, his service was honored in parades. He was among 300 Tuskegee Airmen who received the Congressional Gold Medal from President Bush.

Palmer's daughter, Janice Carter said, "Dad's message to all children is focus on what you want to do with your life and don't let anyone deter it."

It's a lesson he not only learned, but lived.

Palmer's son, Darren said, "From not being able to defend the nation side-by-side with a white person, and then to see the election of the first African American president in America, that's how far the nation's come. I'm really proud to be the son of that man, really proud."

Walter Palmer was one of six other airmen living in Indiana. He died of stomach cancer.