The 617th Bombardment Squadron (Medium) was a U.S. Army Air Force bombardment squadron formed as part of the famed Tuskegee Airmen

Tuskegee Airmen

The Tuskegee Airmen is the popular name of a group of African American pilots who fought in World War II. Formally, they were the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the U.S. Army Air Corps....

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History

The squadron's members were involved in the civil rights action referred to as the Freeman Field Mutiny

Freeman Field Mutiny

The Freeman Field Mutiny was a series of incidents at Freeman Army Airfield, a United States Army Air Forces base near Seymour, Indiana, in 1945 in which African American members of the 477th Bombardment Group attempted to integrate an all-white officers' club. The mutiny resulted in 162 separate...

; the "mutiny" came about when African-American aviators became outraged enough by racial segregation

Racial segregation

Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...

 in the military that they resorted to mass insistence that military regulations prohibiting discrimination be enforced. The Freeman Field Mutiny was a crucial event in the African-American struggle for equal civil rights.

Lineage

The squadron was activated on 1 June 1943. It was inactivated on 25 August 1943. It was reactivated on 15 April 1944. It was inactivated for the second and final time on 1 July 1947.

Stations

• MacDill Field, Florida: 1 June 1943 through 25 August 1943

• Selfridge Field
  Selfridge Field
  Selfridge Air National Guard Base or Selfridge ANGB is an Air National Guard installation located in Harrison Township, Michigan, near Mount Clemens.-Units and organizations:...
  
  , Michigan: 15 April through 5 May 1944

• Godman Field, Kentucky: 6 May through 21 July 1944

• Sturgis Army Airfield
  Sturgis Municipal Airport (Kentucky)
  Sturgis Municipal Airport is a public use airport located two nautical miles east of the central business district of Sturgis, a city in Union County, Kentucky, United States. It is owned by the Union County Air Board. The airport was built in 1941 by the U.S. Army to provide pilot training...
  
  , Kentucky: 22 July through 22 August 1944

• Godman Field, Kentucky: 23 August 1944 through 5 March 1945

• Freeman Field, Indiana: 6 March 1945 through 25 April 1945

• Godman Field, Kentucky: 26 April through 12 March 1946

• Lockbourne Army Air Base, Ohio: 13 March 1946 through 1 July 1947

Aircraft

In 1943: Martin B-26 Marauder

From 1944 through 1 July 1947: North American B-25 Mitchell