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Bob Berg / Lake Superior Magazine
Joe Gomer
Duluth's Joe Gomer, who passed away last week at 93, flew missions in North Africa, Italy and Germany during World War II as one of the Tuskegee Airmen.
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Bob Berg / Lake Superior Magazine
Joe Gomer
Joe Gomer of Duluth, one of the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II, at Zinema 2 on the day the movie “Red Tails” opened.
Joseph P. Gomer of Duluth, who flew 68 combat missions in World War II as one of the Tuskegee Airmen, died October 10, 2013, at age 93.
The Tuskegee Airmen were the country’s first African-American fighter pilots. The unit was formed in 1941 and trained in Tuskegee, Alabama, at a time when the U.S. military was still racially segregated.
“The whole thing was African Americans. They wanted us off in the corner,” Joe said in a 2012 interview. “No airbase on the East Coast or the West Coast wanted us, so they had to prepare a place for us.”
Joe Gomer flew missions in North Africa, Italy and Germany. The Tuskegee Airmen, according to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, “served with distinction in combat and directly contributed to the eventual integration of the U.S. armed services …”
After the war, Joe stayed in the Air Force, in aircraft maintenance and missile work, becoming a nuclear weapons technician. He retired as a major in 1964, then worked for the U.S. Forest Service in Minnesota, retiring in 1985.
At Duluth International Airport is a life-size bronze statue of Joe Gomer as a young pilot in his flight suit. The pedestal contains a quote from Joe: “We’re all Americans. That’s why we chose to fight. I’m as American as anybody. My black ancestors were brought over against their will to help build America. My German ancestors came over to build a new life. And my Cherokee ancestors were here to greet all the boats.”
In his later years, Joe would speak to groups and help tell the story of the celebrated Tuskegee Airmen who flew P-47s and P-51s in support of American bombers. Yet he would quietly describe himself as embarrassed when it came to being in the spotlight.
“I never created a lot of attention, you know. And all of a sudden, you’re the center of attention, and you’re representing not just yourself but really the black Army Air Corp. I’m just a survivor,” he said in 2012, before a special showing in Duluth of “Red Tails,” a movie depicting the Tuskegee Airmen.
There were other honors, including a second statue of Joe Gomer in his hometown of Iowa Falls, Iowa, unveiled this year. In 2007, President George W. Bush presented Tuskegee Airmen with the Congressional Gold Medal, and in 2009 Joe was among a group of the famous airmen invited to President Barack Obama’s inauguration.
Joe Gomer, Minnesota’s last surviving Tuskegee Airman, died of cancer at the Ecumen Lakeshore nursing home in Duluth, according to news reports.