LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP, WLTX) — A member of the famed 'Tuskegee Airmen' who was raised in Columbia has died at the age of 99.
World War II pilot Robert Friend, one of the last original members of the all-black aviator group, passed away.
Robert Friend's daughter, Karen Friend Crumlich, told The Desert Sun her father died in late June at a Southern California hospital.
Born in Columbia, South Carolina on a 1920's leap day, his father was an immigrant from Ecuador. Friend flew 142 combat missions in World War II as part of the elite group of fighter pilots trained at Alabama's Tuskegee Institute. The program was created after the NAACP began challenging policies barring black people from flying military aircraft.
The group's story has been retold in movies and books. Their courage and efforts were a leadup to the eventual desegregation of the U.S. military and the eventual Civil Rights movement.
The New York Times reports just 11 of the 335 Tuskegee pilots are alive following Friend's death.
Friend's 28-year Air Force career included service in the Korean and Vietnam wars. While in the Air Force, he became the director of Project Blue Book, the famous agency designed to investigate unidentified flying objects, or UFOs. He led that group from 1958 to 1963.
Friend was asked in 2017 about the possibility of aliens having ever visited Earth, and he said he did not believe that. However, he did say he believe it's likely life exists in the cosmos.
He also worked on space launch vehicles and served as foreign technology program director before retiring as a lieutenant colonel and forming his own aerospace company.
