Editor's note: The below contains minor spoilers for Masters of the Air Episode 8.

The Big Picture

• President Roosevelt ushered in the Tuskegee Airmen in 1940, leading to the training of Black pilots at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama.
• Real-life Tuskegee Airmen Daniels, Macon, and Jefferson are explored in-depth in Apple TV+'s Masters of the Air .
• The Tuskegee Airmen were pioneers for racial integration in the military and are heroes of WWII.

The Apple TV+ drama Masters of the Air has been using its season to paint a picture of how real-life events unfolded during World War II. From the Schweinfurt-Regensburg Raid to the horrible conditions at the Stalag Luft III POW camp, just about everything within the drama executive produced by Gary Goetzman, Tom Hanks, and Steven Spielberg has been very accurate. Starting in Episode 7 and continuing in Episode 8, we finally get to the tremendous story of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first Black group of pilots to fly on behalf of the United States, along with some of the real-life figures who were part of the group that paved the way for an integrated U.S. Air Force. It's an inspirational true story that needs to be included in any depiction of the Second World War. In Masters of the Air, three characters are explored in-depth, including Ncuti Gatwa as 2nd Lt. Robert Daniels, Branden Cook as 2nd Lt. Alexander Jefferson, and Josiah Cross as 2nd Lt. Richard Macon of the 332nd Fighter Group (also known as the "Red Tails").

Masters of the Air

TV-MA

During WWII, five miles above the ground and behind enemy lines, ten men inside a bomber known as a "Flying Fortress" battle unrelenting flocks of German fighters.

Release Date January 26, 2024 Creator John Orloff Cast Austin Butler , Ncuti Gatwa , Barry Keoghan , Callum Turner Main Genre Drama Seasons 1 Streaming Service(s) Apple TV+ Expand

When Were the Tuskegee Airmen First Ushered Into WWII?

In 1940, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt overruled all of his top generals and gave the stamp of approval to establish a unit of African-American airmen. Black pilots were trained at Tuskegee University from 1941 to 1946 in Tuskegee, Alabama, which was awarded the U.S. Army Air Corps (AAC) contract to assist in training the U.S. first Black military aviators because the government had already invested in the development of Tuskegee Army Air Field. The university also already had a civilian pilot training program that had great merit, and its graduates came out of Tuskegee with some of the best marks on flight aptitude exams. Those who qualified started training from 1940 into 1941 and were gradually eased into flight rotation after training off the coast of Italy in 1943 as a part of the USAF. Lieut. Col. Benjamin Oliver Davis, Jr. became the squadron’s first commander.

Who Are the Tuskegee "Red Tails" Robert Daniels, Richard Macon, and Alexander Jefferson?

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The three real-life pilots featured prominently in Masters of the Air are Robert Daniels, Richard Macon, and Alexander Jefferson. All three of them were 2nd Lieutenants and considered heroes of WWII. Daniels was captured by German forces after his single-engine plane was shot down on August 12, 1944. He was held as a Prisoner of War until his return to U.S. Military Control at the end of the war in May 1945. Macon, the first Black pilot POW in World War II, was shot down on an escort mission to Italian bomb radar stations in Toulon. After being hit by enemy flak, he flipped his plane upside down and passed out from the trauma and altitude. Somehow, his parachute opened, and when he came to an hour later, he found himself surrounded by Nazi soldiers. With a broken shoulder and neck, which caused him to pass out at sudden movements, he was moved from the field hospital and got his neck braced at Stalag Luft III. He would spend the rest of the war at the camp.

One of the last Tuskegee Airmen alive, Second Lieutenant Alexander Jefferson, passed away two years ago and lived to be 100 years old. In WWII, he was a Red Tail pilot with the 332nd. Jefferson flew 18 missions, escorting B-17s and B-24s on bombing missions over France, Germany, and Romania. He was shot down over Romania in his P-51C Mustang and eventually parachuted to safety in Douamont, France in August 1944, during an attack on radar towers. Along with his fellow Red Tail pilots Daniels and Macon, Jefferson was sent to Stalag Luft III for the duration of the war, which is depicted in Episode 8 of Masters of the Air.

How Are the Tuskegee Airmen Portrayed in 'Masters of the Air'?

The opening sequence of Masters of the Air Part 8 begins just days before D-Day and the direct invasion of Europe in 1944, and features four Tuskegee Airmen planes in formation during a bombing run over Italy. After several scenes updating the situation at Stalag Luft III, we see two Tuskegee Airmen discussing the subject of racism in the military and why all the airmen are only 2nd and 1st Lieutenants when they should be Majors and Captains, which hits on a real issue these pilots faced during WWII. We then sit in on the briefing for their operation to fly over France and take out the radar capabilities in what will push their P-51s to the limit to make it to three locations and back to friendly territory.

It's an action-packed sequence that illustrates both the skill of the pilots and the danger they faced from the enemy's ground-to-air missiles at the communication bases. Jefferson, Macon, and Daniels are all shot down and undergo a similar interrogation by the Germans to what Bucky Egan (Callum Turner) experienced. They do not break, giving only their name and rank. Jefferson and Daniels carry the wounded Macon into Stalag Luft III, where they are welcomed by some of the other pilots. As they walk into the barracks they've been assigned, where Buck Cleven (Austin Butler), Egan, and the white pilots are sitting around playing cards, there is an awkward silence. Cleven breaks the tension by saying, "Gentlemen, welcome to paradise." Later on in the episode, Buck and Alex have a nice exchange about how their respective groups can help each other break out of the camp.

The Legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen

The Tuskegee Airmen were awarded several medals and citations for their courage and bravery, not only for overcoming the social injustices and obstacles to get into the cockpit but for valor contributing to the victorious Allied Forces during WWII. The Tuskegee Airmen were trailblazers of reform in the Armed Forces, paving the way for full racial integration in the other branches of the military. You can take a tour of the Tuskegee Museum in Detroit, Michigan, and get an in-depth tutorial on the pioneering aviators.

Masters of the Air drops new episodes every Friday on Apple TV+ in the U.S.

Watch on Apple TV+

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