A piece of Tuskegee Airmen, WWII aviation history finally comes to shore after spending 70 years on the floor of the Great Lakes.
In the 1940’s, when the United States enlisted Tuskegee Airmen pilots to prepare for war, they sent many of them to Detroit to train and today after being lost for over 77 years, Tuskegee Airmen, Lieutenant Pilot Frank Moody’s Bell P-39Q Airacobra, that crashed north of Port Huron in Lake Huron, is coming home to the Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Museum in Detroit.
The plane was discovered at the bottom of Lake Huron by an Oakland County Sheriff’s Department helicopter pilot exactly 70 years to the fateful day of the crash. Soon after the discovery, the State of Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources initiated documenting the site.
The Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Museum is proud to be galvanizing resources to implement its strategies and goal to raise and restore this important piece of our country’s aviation history.
This discovery has garnered national attention with the non profit organization, Diving With Purpose (DWP), and the Department of Natural Resources, among others, offering to assist in this tenuous process. DWP is unveiling a memorial statue and hosting a series of events August 26-28, 2021, at the Port Huron Museum to recognize Lt. Moody’s heroic efforts and the raising of his airplane.
Once raised the P-39Q will be restored and added to the growing museum exhibit at the Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Museum in Detroit.
For more information visit www.TuskegeeMuseum.Org
