One of the Iowans who was part of the famed Tuskegee Airmen has died. Ninety-one-year-old James Bowman, who died Monday, was one of 12 men from Iowa to become part of the all-black Army Air Corps group in World War Two. After the war Bowman became the first black assistant superintendent in the Des Moines Public School District. He moved to Pittsburgh after retiring to be close to his daughter.
The Tuskegee Airmen helped break the color barrier in the U.S. military, but didn’t gain fame until long after the war when their story was told in a movie. A replica of the P-51 Mustang, one of the planes the group flew, stands outside the Iowa Air National Guard base in Des Moines in honor of the men. They were also awarded the George Washington Carver medal at Simpson College in 2010. With Bowman’s death, there are just three of the Iowans who were part of the unit still living.