"We were not African American or Negro but colored, and our commander and our instructors were all white," he recalls.

"These instructors were from Alabama, so we would fly over their houses and they thought nothing of calling (us) the N-word, all day, seven days a week."

Spears, 80, is one of the surviving members of the legendary Tuskegee Airmen, an all-black corps of pilots trained to fly and fight during World War II when the armed forces were so racially segregated the Red Cross kept separate supplies of blood -- one for whites, another for blacks.

From 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Spears and 14 other Bay Area residents, also trained at Tuskegee, Ala., will be honored at the Museum of African American Technology Science Village, 630 20th St., Oakland.

"These airmen are a national treasure," said Hattie Carwell, an executive with the science village, which works to encourage more young minorities to seek careers in science, engineering and mathematics while exposing them to role models.

Part of the group -- Les Williams, Harold Hoskins, LeRoy Gillead and Samuel Broadnax -- joined Spears in downtown Oakland Thursday. Saturday will be proclaimed Tuskegee Airmen Day by Mayor Jerry Brown.

The military began a program to train black pilots in July 1941 at the Division of Aeronautics of Tuskegee Institute, the black college founded by Booker T. Washington in 1881. The college had started an aviation course in 1939.

The school was ideal because there was always good flying weather and underdeveloped rural land for airfields. But it was also in the deep south where racial discrimination was overt and many blacks were not comfortable going there.

By the end of the war, some 992 men had graduated from pilot training at Tuskegee, 450 of whom were sent overseas for combat. Some 150 lost their lives while in training or on combat missions.

Spears is not bitter about serving, but he recalls the blatant racism he endured.

In 1942, Spears would be part of a class of 75 black pilots, but one of only 15 who graduated in June 1944. He would later serve combat in North Africa, Sicily and Italy.

"We were the only group of pilots who never lost a bomber to enemy fire," said Spears.

The Oakland Tribune: Cityside
Leanne McLaughlin, Managing Editor
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