A-train: Memoirs of a Tuskegee Airman - Hardcover

Charles W. Dryden

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0817308563 ISBN 13: 9780817308568

Publisher: The University of Alabama Press, 1997

Synopsis

Charles C. Dryden presents an honest, fast-paced and vividly written memoir of what it was like to be a black soldier and pilot during World War II and the Korean War. This is a balanced account by an insightful man who enlisted in a segregated army and retired from an integrated workforce.

About this title

Review:

"Through the eyes of an original Tuskegee airman, the reader catches glimpses of two wars, three continents, and twenty years of military service. . . . [An] honest portrayal that will enlighten young and old, civilian and military, historians and laymen."
--Military History of the West

"Dryden is the archetype of both the first mainstream generation of black officers, and of the career reservists who were a mainstay of America's armed forces during the first years of the Cold War."
--Multicultural Review

From the Back Cover:

How does a black American prepare for a career in a profession traditionally closed to blacks? And how does he or she cope with the frustrations and dangers that subsequent experiences generate? A-Train is the story of one of the black Americans who, during World War II, graduated from Tuskegee Army Flying School and served as a pilot in the 99th Pursuit Squadron. Charles W. Dryden has prepared an honest, fast-paced, balanced, vividly written, and very personal account of what it was like to be a black soldier, and specifically a pilot, during World War II and the Korean War. Colonel Dryden's book commands our attention because it is a balanced account by an insightful man who enlisted in a segregated army and retired from an integrated air force. Dryden's account is poignant in illuminating the hurt inflicted by racism on even the most successful black people. As a member of that elite group of those young pilots who fought for their country overseas while being denied civil liberties at home, Dryden presents an eloquent memoir of the experiences he has shared and the changes he has witnessed.

About this edition

• Publisher: The University of Alabama Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0817308563
• ISBN 13: 9780817308568
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 432