"Today I stand before you having completed what I consider the work I was assigned to do," he said. The remark summarized
completion of the integration challenge he and 1,500 of his fellow Tuskegee Airmen received from their commander, Col. Benjamin Davis Jr., who eventually became the U.S. military's first African-American general officer.
The veteran related how his first military duty there immediately challenged his composure as well as his resourcefulness. Ordered by his first sergeant to mow the headquarters lawn -- without a lawn mower or any hand-held implements -- Mr. Richardson responded with unique resolve.
"I found an old rotting wood barrel with the metal rings falling off," he said. "I took one ring and used a large coral rock to sharpen one edge long enough and wrapped a towel around part of it to make a sling to cut that grass."
Mr. Richardson, who retired in 1979 and resides with his wife, Helen, has since moved on to become a deacon in his Catholic church and a highly respected civic leader and businessman.
In April he was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller for his pioneering service as a Tuskegee Airman."
Scary..
