Daniel Keel takes a FaceTime call from retired U.S. Air Force General Lloyd "Fig" Newton, the first African-American Thunderbird pilot in history.
Lynn Keel holds the phone up for her father as the four-star general thanks him for his service.
It's moments before the chartering ceremony for the Tampa Bay chapter of Tuskegee Airmen, Inc.
Keel, 104, is the evening's honored guest.
One of the few surviving Tuskegee Airmen
He is one of three Black officers who earned a triple rating during World War II — a navigator, bombardier, and pilot — and the last of them alive today.
He's also one of the few surviving documented Original Tuskegee Airmen (DOTA), or men, women, military and other personnel who served at the Tuskegee Army Air Field between 1941 and 1949.
Though never deployed during WWII, Keel trained with the all-Black 477th fighter group as a B-25 Mitchell bomber pilot during a time of racial segregation in the U.S. military.
"I was drafted, so I had no choice ... I figured I'd make the best of a bad situation. So, I did my best ... to show people that if given the opportunity, we could do the job just as well as they could, if not better," Keel said.
The around 1,000 Black pilots are famous trailblazers whose wartime excellence and resistance to racism at home ultimately helped persuade President Harry Truman to desegregate the U.S. military in 1948.
Before that, Keel and other officers filed formal complaints about racial discrimination they faced while training at Midland Army Air Field in Texas. The documents, which were declassified in 2015, are famous for forcing the desegregation of social facilities on the airfield.
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Their sacrifices became the basis of the well-known 2012 war film, "Red Tails," which depicts the 322nd Fighter Group of the Tuskegee Airmen whose aircrafts had distinctive red markings.
As a tribute, founding members of the more than 50 local chapters of the national nonprofit, Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., don red coats.
In its infancy, Tampa Bay's chapter of Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. is already the largest group in the network, with over 100 members.
It's also the fourth official chapter in Florida, joining existing groups in Eatonville, Miami and Orlando, where Keel is currently a member.
The largest chapter, in its infancy
The evening begins with a joint ceremony by the University of South Florida Color Guard and MacDill Air Force Base Honor Guard.
Two Girl Scouts with Troop 3324 in Tampa also helped welcome tonight's guests.
Before a classic Southern meal — fried chicken, collard greens and mashed potatoes — was served, they were led in prayer.
“God, we thank you for those heroes, those persons who were told no, but you gave them the courage to say yes. Those individuals, O' Heavenly Father, who were told they were only qualified to walk, yet you gave them the courage to fly,” New Hope Missionary Baptist Church Rev. Bruce Bryant said.
After dinner, the newest official chapter of Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., was recognized by elected leaders, including U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor and Tampa City Council members Luis Viera, Guido Maniscalco and Naya Young.
"It is so important for us to continue to talk about ... the importance of history in this country," Young said. "We have history sitting with us right here in this room, and that can't be erased."
As the AP reported, the Trump administration faced backlash in recent years after the U.S. Air Force removed footage of the Tuskegee Airmen from video training materials.
Though they quickly reversed course, Pia Jordan said it's a reminder that preserving history is an active choice. She's a founding member of Tampa Bay's Tuskegee chapter and the daughter of a first lieutenant of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps at the Tuskegee Army Air Field.
"Since I'm now living in Florida, it seems like ... history is being rewritten through certain eyes. Diversity, as we know, in some places is like a dirty word," she said. "Hopefully ... the Tampa Bay chapter [of] the Tuskegee Airmen can do its part to help tell a full story about the history of America."
In a sea of red blazers, Keel sits at a banquet table at the front of the grand ballroom in Tampa with a camouflage-print blanket across his lap.
Though he insists on walking to the podium when it's time to swear in the leaders of the newest chapter of Tuskegee Airmen, Inc.
"Congratulations," Keel said to a room erupting in applause.
