One of the few remaining Tuskegee Airmen from World War II has passed away at the age of 99. Jerry T. Hodges, who was reportedly the last Tuskegee Airman born in Memphis, Tennessee, died last week in California. In the midst of World War II, Hodges was one of approximately 992 pilots to graduate from the segregated Tuskegee program, where 450 participated in overseas conflict.
Hodges was born in Memphis on June 29, 1925, when his family relocated to Arkansas, where he grew up on a farm. The airman attended a segregated high school for two years before transferring to another school where he would graduate as the valedictorian in 1943. From there, Hodges enrolled at the historically black college Hampton Institute in Virginia, now known as Hampton University.
However, Hodges would eventually drop out after three semesters to become a military pilot, enlisting in the Army Air Corps in the summer of 1944. The aspiring pilot was inducted into the service towards the conclusion of World War II. Hodges began his training at Camp Lee, Virginia before transferring to Kessler Field in Biloxi, Mississippi for basic training. From there, he transferred to Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama.
Hodges finished his training at Tuskegee in September 1945 before being transferred to Lockbourne Air Base in Ohio in the summer of 1946 after the war. There, he was assigned to the 617th Bomb Squadron of the 477th Bomber Group. Given that he filtered through the program in the final days of World War II, Hodges did not participate in any active combat.
Following his time as a pilot, Hodges would go on to become a successful entrepreneur and businessman. After being discharged in 1946, he would return to pursuing higher education at the University of Southern California (USC), graduating with degrees in business as well as accounting and finance.
A biography about Hodges in CAF Rise Above described his post-war education, “By his junior year, he had already obtained his license as a public accountant. He graduated from USC in 1950 with a BSE in accounting and finance. He also took classes at California State University at Los Angeles and the University of California at Los Angeles. He later received an additional degree in financial planning from the College of Financial Planning in Denver, Colorado.”
Further detailing his academic and professional accomplishments, the biographical account added, “After graduation, Hodges pursued a career in accounting, becoming the vice president of Casualty Insurance Company, one of California’s first African-American-owned insurance companies. In about 1964, he opened his own accounting business, and by 1965 he had expanded his business, managing his own company of about ten employees.”
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Throughout his adult life, Hodges’ success in his business ventures would continue to grow along with his civic engagement. He would go on to become a founding member of the Los Angeles Branch of the David Rockefeller Interracial Council on Business Opportunity as well. In honor of his time in the Tuskegee program, Hodges chaired and served as president of the nonprofit Tuskegee Airman Scholarship Foundation. Up until his death, Hodges lived in Southern California with his wife and daughters.
Watch an college football referee salute veterans below:
Watch an interview with Hodges from a couple of years ago:
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.