1st Lieutenant
Freeman Army Air Field
Dr.
Quentin Smith trained a number of pilots who distinguished themselves
during World War II. He was born in Weldon, TX, and at the age of 8, his
father moved to East Chicago. His father moved after what Smith
described as "difficulty with the deputy sheriff." The family joined him
a couple of years later. He played in the school orchestra and performed
at the 1933-34 World's Fair in Chicago, where he met a young
professional musician by the name of Nat King Cole – and talked him into
playing their high school prom a year later.He was teaching English at Gary's Roosevelt High School when he was drafted in 1942 and he chose to enlist in the Air Corps. He said Willa Smith, an African American woman who was a pioneer in transcontinental flight, taught him to fly at her flight school on Chicago's southwest side. He was chosen to go down to Tuskegee to teach cadets.
At that time, all military planes were assigned to white pilots, so he flew "primary" plans – service aircraft – and served as a flight instructor for "primaries" at the Tuskegee Institute. Later, since he was too big for a P-40 or P-51, he was made a bomber pilot. It was difficult to assemble a full crew, though; black pilots were not allowed to command white crews under any circumstances, even white crewmen at the rank of pilot.
After spending time at Fort Knox, near Louisville, First Lieutenant Smith was transferred to Freeman Field in his home state of Indiana. As an officer, regulations said that our recipient could enter any officers club, but black officers were barred from the club – along with the tennis court and swimming pool – at Freeman Field. A colonel informed them they could use the facilities, but only before 1700 hours; in other words, only during hours when they'd be working. Our recipient said, "We booed him off the stage!" He and the other black officers in the Air Corps were instructed to sign a new directive about the segregation of the officer clubs. He refused, along with 100 others, and they were confined to quarters. Three days later, an armed guard arrived; he and the other officers were sent to prison at Fort Leavenworth.
However, Fort Leavenworth, also segregated, wasn't prepared to handle the sudden arrival of 101 black prisoners, so they were shipped back to Freeman Field. (Our recipient said, "This was one time when segregation was pretty good!) The black officers who had signed the directive pooled their money and brought in a defense team led by Thurgold Marshall, who won their release. A little over two years later, President Truman would sign the order to de-segregate the military. It was not for more than 50 years, however, that the officers' records were formally cleared of the reprimand from the incident.
He has many honors from his years in the administration of the Gary Schools and city government. He was the first principal of West Side High School beginning in 1968. He later became the director of secondary education for the Gary Schools.
James D. West www.Indianamilitary.org