"We'd Like To See It Before We Go"

Carroll Woods wants to see a museum built in honor of the famed Tuskegee Airmen sooner rather than later. The 85-year old African-American who, along with other Tuskegee Airmen, broke racial barriers in military aviation, says time's a-wasting. Like many of the surviving Airmen, Carroll is worried he won't live to see the project completed.

"We are anxious because most of us are about my age and older," Carroll told the Montgomery (AL) Advertiser. We'd like to see it before we go."

Congressman Mike Rogers (R-AL) said the project is indeed underway. He expects groundbreaking next year. But Rogers admits, work on getting the museum to this point has been slow.

"All I know is it's taken what I think is an incredible amount of time, but at least it's now complete, and we're ready to break ground," he told the paper.

The site upon which the museum is to be built was dedicated to the Tuskegee Airmen in 1998, but you wouldn't know it to look at it. Located at Moton Field near Montgomery, the site consists of several rundown buildings and an information trailer.

The project is expected to cost $18 million and be built in three stages. Architectural consultant Don Brown said the first phase will see the restoration of a hangar and the creation of several Tuskegee Airmen exhibits. The second phase calls for the restoration of another hangar and the construction of a parking lot. The third phase, as yet unfunded, will restore yet another hangar and more of the buildings at the airfield.

The project also calls for the establishment of a flying school on the field.

Tick-tock. Nothing can stop the forces of time and nature. Many of the Tuskegee Airmen who served in World War II have already passed on. Get it done fast, said 85-year old Herbert Carter in an interview with the Advertiser. "Otherwise, we're going to pass on, as many have in the last six years, very disappointed."

FMI: www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/history/prewwii/ta.htm