NewsVine_Mariyam
Platinum Member
Lost in Heaven was written by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Professor Dr. Leo Murphy. (Photo: Blue Water Press)
Celebrating African-American Contributions to Aviation: New Book Honors Heroic Tuskegee Airman
Mike Cavaliere / Jan 18, 2019, 8:27 AM
The inspirational, heart-breaking story of World War II Tuskegee Airman 1st Lt. James Polkinghorne, described in a new book by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University aviation history expert Dr. Leo F. Murphy, offers a fitting tribute for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations on Jan. 21, as well as for African-American History Month in February.
The book, Lost in Heaven, recounts 1st Lt. Polkinghorne’s journey, from his days as a bellhop at a Pensacola, Fla., hotel, to his valiant service taking enemy fire over the skies of Italy. Murphy, an Embry-Riddle professor of aeronautical science and a 30-year U.S. Navy veteran, calls the book his “passion project.” Working on it over the course of years, he looked to hundreds of magazine clippings, personal diaries and books, as well as to the airman’s sister, Maggie Polkinghorne, to unearth details.
“Very little was known about Polkinghorne’s career, and what little had been published was often filled with errors,” Murphy said. “This inspired me to find out as much as possible about Polkinghorne and to research the history of early black aviation and the Tuskegee Airmen so that I could properly position Polkinghorne’s service within this much broader historical narrative.”
Celebrating African-American Contributions to Aviation: New Book Honors Heroic Tuskegee Airman
