After work on PBS Tuskegee Airmen documentary, VFW

from The European Gazette April - June 2023

USAG ANSBACH FALLEN FIREFIGHTER CEREMONY

Naples – Italy member invited to D.C. film premiere

Shawn Winter of VFW Post 12159 “Monte Cassino”, located at the U.S. Naval Base in Naples, Italy, was invited to the February 9, 2023 premiere of “The Tuskegee Airmen : Return to Ramitelli” at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

In partnership with the World War II Foundation, this past summer in July & August -2022, he along with students majoring in communications and journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University traveled across Italy from Rome, Naples, the Amalfi Coast, and to central Italy to the sites of the Foggia Airfield Complex where located during World War II.

The national museum was filled to the brim, with an initial audience of hundreds and a waitlist of 100 more hoping for seats to watch the film. “We were originally limited to 350 people but everybody was able to get in,” Tim Gray, documentarian filmmaker and president of the World War II Foundation said.

Audience members were from the military corps, congressional members, entertainment and more. It was nice to see a mix of philanthropists, military veterans, soldiers and military students. To deliver the keynote address was General Charles Q. Brown Jr., the chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force. Brown, the first African American to hold the chief of staff position.

This documentary tells the story of the first all-Black unit of military fighter pilots and airmen and how their heroic success in the United States Air Force helped pave the way for desegregation in the military. The film, narrated by Darius Rucker lead singer and musician of the band “Hootie & the Blowfish”, features interviews with Tuskegee veterans and showcases more of a contemporary look of Italy today.

One notable guest was 98-year-old Tuskegee Airman and retired U.S. Army Air Force officer Lt. Col. Harry T. Stewart Jr., who received the 2023 Senator Bob Dole Leadership Award that night. He is featured in the film and shared his story at the premiere.