Growing up Queens, New York City, within walking distance of North Beach Airport, now known as LaGuardia — he got airplanes into his blood early. When reading Popular Mechanics magazine, he discovered that the U.S. Army Air Corps was going to create a segregated unit to train black pilots in 1941. He said, “I was in my teens at the time,” he said later, “but right then I set my sights on becoming a member of the 99th pursuit squadron. I knew I’d have to register for the Selective Service when I turned 18 and aerial fighting sounded much better than fighting on the ground.” At 17, he volunteered for the U.S. Army Air Forces, and was inducted when he turned 18. He passed the Pilot Cadet exam and completed cadet pilot training, receiving his wings on June 27, 1944, graduating in the Tuskegee Airmen Class 44-F-SE. He had learned to fly before he learned to drive a car.
After completing combat and fighter training in Walterboro, S.C., Stewart was assigned to the 15th Air Force in Italy as part of 302nd Fighter Squadron. Stewart flew 43 bomber escort missions for the 15th Air Force to targets throughout Eastern Europe. On April 1, 1945 — Easter Sunday — during a B-24 bomber escort mission near Linz, Stewart shot down three attacking German Focke-Wulf 190s. Stewart was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. But that glory was subdued because that same day, a buddy and squadron mate, Walter Manning, was shot down, then captured by German civilians. German and Austrian soldiers arrived to take Manning into custody, but they didn’t want to be bothered with a Black pilot: they lynched him. On Easter Sunday in 2018, the Austrian government hosted Stewart to attend a national parade honoring Manning’s memory.
After the war, Stewart was part of a group of Tuskeegee Airmen flying a demonstration mission in March 1948 when his P-47 Thunderbolt’s engine failed in Eastern Kentucky. Heading toward a mountain without power, Stewart put his plane into a dive and bailed out, but was blown into the plane’s tail, shattering his lower left leg. His plane exploded on impact, which was heard by the Webb family, nearby farmers. (Their then-15-year-old daughter, Loretta, later became known as country music legend Loretta Lynn; she was already married and living with her husband.) Stewart’s parachute was caught in the snag of a tree, leaving him dangling just 2 feet from the ground, bleeding profusely.
Stewart cut himself down, crawled to shelter, and used his pilot’s scarf to make a tourniquet. Another farmer rode out to the site with an extra horse, rescued Stewart, and got him to a clinic. While being treated there, Stewart was visited by a long line of dignitaries, including the police chief, sheriff, and a newspaper reporter, who omitted Stewart’s race from his report. Still, a local legend slowly grew that a Black man had stolen a B-52 bomber, and USAF fighters had shot it down. It was all quite ridiculous, especially considering the B-52 wasn’t manufactured until 1952. Stewart laughed at the tale when it finally reached him — in 2005.
Stewart was required to leave the Air Force in 1950 — no career opportunities allowed — but he remained as a member of the U.S. Air Force Reserves, later retiring with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He applied to be a pilot with two airlines, including TWA and Pan Am. “Mr. Stewart, I’m sure you can understand our position,” said a Pan Am hiring manager. “Just imagine what passengers would think if during a flight they saw a Negro step out of the cockpit and walk down the aisle in a pilot’s uniform?” Pan Am went bankrupt in 1991. TWA ceased to exist when it was acquired by American Airlines in 2001. In 2015, Delta Air Lines awarded Stewart the status of Honorary Captain; in 2018, American Airlines did it too. Stewart didn’t wait; he enrolled at New York University, graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1963. He rose to Vice President of the Michigan-Wisconsin Pipe Line Company (later ANR Pipeline Company), which operated an interstate natural gas pipeline system. Harry Thaddeus Stewart Jr. died February 2. He was 100.