CNN politics | Hero aviator of the Tuskegee Airmen honored at Arlington burial

Photos of Col. Charles McGee at his Bethesda, Maryland. home.

(CNN) – When Charles McGee first dreamt of flying above the clouds nearly a century ago, the US military wouldn’t even allow Black Americans to do so.

On Friday, in ceremonies attended by family and friends, at which the secretary of the Air Force and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff came to pay their respects, McGee, honored as a brigadier general and famed for his heroism as a member of the fabled Tuskegee Airmen, was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery, the most sacred of all grounds for US service members.

McGee, who was 102 when he died in his sleep on January 16, successfully completed 409 air combat missions across three wars — World War II, Korea and Vietnam — serving a total of 30 years of active service while overcoming the racial barriers of his day.  –read more–

Charles McGee, who served with the Tuskagee Airmen, salutes during the State of the Union address on February 4, 2020, at President Donald Trump’s State of the Union Address.