Harry Stewart Jr.
Harry Thaddeus Stewart Jr. (born July 4, 1924) is a retired United States Army Air Forces officer, a Distinguished Flying Cross recipient, and a fighter pilot who served in the 332nd Fighter Group, best known as the all-African American Tuskegee Airmen.
Harry T. Stewart Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 4, 1924 Newport News, Virginia, U.S. |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Service/ | United States Army Air Forces United States Air Force |
| Rank | Lieutenant Colonel |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | Distinguished Flying Cross Congressional Gold Medal |
Stewart shot down three German aircraft in one day during World War II. He is one of only four Tuskegee Airmen, along with Joseph Elsberry, Clarence D. Lester and Lee Archer, to have earned three victories in a single day of aerial combat.
Stewart was also a member of the all-African American 332nd Fighter Group Weapons pilot team that won the United States Air Force's inaugural "Top Gun" team competition in 1949. Stewart, along with George Hardy and fellow 1949 Top Gun winner James H. Harvey, is among the last surviving members of the Tuskegee Airmen. The Tuskegee Airmen were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2006. In 2019, Stewart co-wrote “Soaring to Glory: A Tuskegee Airman's Firsthand Account of World War II,” co-written by Philip Handleman.