PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM BE CONFERRED UPON COL. JOHN C. ROBINSON POSTHUMOUSLY
Col. John C. Robinson was the first great aviator of the African American community. Born in Carrabelle, Florida in 1903 he graduated from Tuskegee Institute in 1924 in automotive technology. In 1931 he became the first Black American to be licensed as a pilot in the United States. He was the first Black aviation instructor in the US and established the first black owned and operated airfield in Robbins, Illinois at a time when blacks were refused the opportunity to learn aviation all across the country.
Courageous and undaunted, Col. Robinson answered the call of Emperor Haile Selessie of Ethiopia to go to Ethiopia and establish the Imperial Ethiopian Air Force in 1935 where he became a legend.