Armour G. McDaniel

Armour McDaniel
Birth name	Armour G. McDaniel, Sr.
Born	(1916-07-07)July 7, 1916 Martinsville, Virginia,US
Died	November 12, 1989(1989-11-12)(aged 73) Indianapolis, Indiana,US
Buried	Arlington National Cemetery
Years of service	1942–1964
Rank	Lieutenant colonel
Alma mater	Virginia State University,Temple UniversityandRider College

Armour G. McDaniel, Sr.(July 7, 1916 – November 12, 1989) (POW) (WIA) was an American military officer who served as a U.S. Air Forcelieutenant coloneland commanded the332nd Fighter Group's301st Fighter Squadron,aTuskegee Airmenunit. McDaniels also served as the Commandant of Cadets atTuskegee Army Airfield.He fought inWorld War IIand was briefly held as aprisoner of warinNazi Germany.

Early life and education

Armour G. McDaniel, Sr. was born July 7, 1916, inMartinsville, Virginia,to Charlie and Mary Earley McDaniel.

He attended bothLucy Addison High SchoolinRoanoke, Virginia,and the Piedmont Christian Institute (high school).

He attendedVirginia State University,graduating with a B.S. in business administration. He also graduated fromTemple Universitywith a P.A. in economics, and received his teacher qualification fromRider Collegein Princeton, New Jersey.

He returned to Martinsville, Virginia, to teach English, history and social science at an all African-American high school until the beginning of World War II.

Military service

McDaniel attended flight training at Tuskegee Army Airfield inTuskegee, Alabama,as a member of its Class 43-A-SE, one of the first flight classes at the airfield.After completing training on January 14, 1943, he was deployed to Italy in December 1943 as a member of the all-African American332nd Fighter Group's301st Fighter Squadron,best known as the "Tuskegee Airmen."The squadron's mission was to provide air cover for Allied ships using Naples harbor and escort Allied bombers into Germany's strategic targets.

On March 24, 1945, Col.Benjamin O. Davis Jr.led 332nd Fighter Group pilots on a 1,600 miles (2,600 km) bomber escort mission from theFoggia Airfield Complex's Ramitelli AirField in Italy to protect Fifteenth Air Force bombers on a mission to attack a tank assembly plant inBerlin, Germany.When fighters scheduled to take over escort duties failed to show up and Davis's plane began to suffer engine problems, requiring him to head back to Ramitelli, McDaniel, now a captain, assumed command from Davis, leading the pilots to Berlin despite theirP-51aircraft running low on fuel. As they neared Berlin, he and his pilots were attacked by 25 GermanMe 262fighter jets. They downed three German jets, suffering no losses to their U.S. bomber fleet. Nonetheless, the Germans shot down and captured McDaniel and another P-51 pilot. As McDaniel leaped from his aircraft, he fractured both legs.

The Germans initially imprisoned McDaniel atNuremberg, Germany,Munich, Germany,and ultimately atStalag VII-Anear Moosburg, Germany, for over 30 days. He was eventually liberated byGeneral George Patton'sUS Third Armyon April 29, 1945.

In January 1945, McDaniel became the 301st Fighter Squadron's commanding officer, replacing Major Lee Rayford, who returned to the United States.In 1946, McDaniel became the commandant of cadets at the Tuskegee Army Air Field. McDaniel was later stationed inAlaska,where he led several units.

In 1964, McDaniel retired from the active duty Air Force as alieutenant colonel.He later worked for the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare in New York City as a civil rights specialist.

Family

AfterWorld War II,McDaniel married Faye J. Wilson McDaniel (1935–2019) ofFayetteville, Tennessee.McDaniel had three children: Armour G. McDaniel, Jr. (1952–1989), Gregory McDaniel and Gwendolyn Jackson. He also had four step-children: Delmer Jerome Edmonds, Jr., Kevin L. Edmonds, Donald E. Edmonds and Regina F. Majors.

Death, interments

McDaniel died on November 12, 1989, inIndianapolis, Indiana.He is interred atArlington National Cemeteryin Section 65, Grave 2822. His wife, Faye, is buried alongside him in Arlington.

Legacy

• McDaniel's widow, Faye J. Wilson McDaniel (1935–2019), attended the 2016 ribbon-cutting ceremonies celebrating the renaming of a section ofInterstate 65nearColumbus, Indiana,for the Tuskegee Airmen. Surrounded by members of the U.S. military and government officials, Mrs. McDaniel cut the ribbon.
• In February 2019, Virginia State SenatorBill Stanley (politician)(R-Franklin County) honored the memory of McDaniels by presenting a flag to McDaniel's Martinsville-based cousin, placing a framed photograph of a wreath on McDaniel's grave atArlington National Cemetery,and flying a flag over the Virginia state capital in his honor. A photograph capturing one of McDaniel's missions is displayed at theSmithsonian's National Aerospace Museum. The photograph shows a damaged wing on McDaniel's plane after he led an attack on German barges on theDanube Riverin 1944. McDaniel personally destroyed six barges, each containing approximately 250 troops. Despite damage to his plane, McDaniel successfully returned to base.

See also

• List of Tuskegee Airmen Cadet Pilot Graduation Classes
• List of Tuskegee Airmen
• Military history of African Americans
• Dogfights (TV series)
• Executive Order 9981
• The Tuskegee Airmen(movie)