09/14/2026
BUFORD A. JOHNSON CHAPTER, TAI HISTORIAN REPORT
Date: September 12, 2026
From: Laska H. Jones, Jr., Historian
TAI Snippets
In our Chapter, our oldest member, Laska H. Jones, Sr., passed away peacefully at home on August 11, 2026, three days after our last meeting. Mr. Jones was a member of Tuskegee Airmen Chapters in Los Angeles and the Inland Empire for over 46 years. He served 20 years in the Air Force as a Medic, and 22 years in the San Bernardino City Unified School District as an Administrator. His Celebration of Life was on September 2 and was attended by about 10 people of our Chapter, including the President, Officers, and long-time members. Many thanks and enormous appreciation from the Jones Family for the Chapter’s strong show of support and the beautiful flowers.
No new information about Colonel James H. Harvey, III (Denver, CO), who turned 103 in July 13, and is a remaining living pilot who graduated from Tuskegee Army pilot training; Lt. Eugene J. Richardson (Philadelphia, PA), 100 years of age, is a remaining living pilot who graduated from Tuskegee Army pilot training; Brigadier General Enoch “Woody” Woodhouse who turned 99 in January; or First Lieutenant James Clayton Flowers who turned 110 years of age on Christmas Day last year.
Colonel George S. “Spanky” Roberts, Army Air Force officer and fighter pilot, is highlighted in the September 2026 Red Tail Angels Calendar. He graduated from pilot training in Tuskegee with General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. and commanded the 332nd Fighter Group before Davis did. Roberts flew over 100 missions in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. He was the first African American U.S. Air Force officer to command a racially integrated unit at Langley Air Force Base. Roberts retired in 1968 and then worked as a credit officer, training officer, and personal banking officer at a bank. He passed away in 1984 at the age of 65 in Sacramento, CA.
Colonel George Jewell Iles, Army Air Force officer, fighter pilot, and former WWII Prisoner of War in N**i Germany, is highlighted in the October 2026 Red Tail Angels Calendar. Iles flew 23 missions in WWII’s European Theater. In Februar