Ret. Col. Richard “Dick” Toliver remembers graduating with a mechanical engineering degree from Tuskegee Institute University in 1963, learning from the Tuskegee Airmen, becoming a project engineer, completing pilot training, and being among the first five Black/African American F-4 pilots under the notable Tuskegee Airman Gen. Daniel “Chappie” James.
The 88-year-old veteran, founder of the Archer-Ragsdale Arizona Chapter of Tuskegee Airmen Inc., in Phoenix, and “Black Wings Over Arizona” author also fondly remembers not wanting to disappoint “Chappie” or be on the receiving end of his size 14 shoe, he said as a guest speaker at The Grand Connection Interest Group Fall Fling, Nov. 7, in Surprise.
Speaking to more than 100 attendees, he shared stories about his life from being a Louisiana native to living in Litchfield Park. He recounted flying 446 combat missions in Southeast Asia, mentoring from the Tuskegee Airmen, meeting Martin Luther King Jr., Jackie Robinson and more.
