TWO BLACK MEN HONORED BY THE WHITE HOUSE: ONE IS AN AMERICAN HERO, THE OTHER AN AMERICAN ZERO
Vol. I | Issue. 20 | August 16, 2021
Charles McGee was born on December 7 in 1919 (Pearl Harbor Day) and perhaps that day and year fated his heroism and occupation to be written in the stars. Had McGee and a few hundred others like him been deployed in the air on December 7, 1941, over Pearl Harbor, things may have turned out differently on that day, but fate gave him a second chance.
In October of 1942, while an Engineering student at the University of Illinois, McGee, after already having earned his pilot’s wings, became part of the Tuskegee Airmen and graduated from Class 43-F on June 30, 1943.
By February 1944, McGee was stationed in Italy with the 302nd Fighter Squadron of the 332nd Fighter Group. He flew his first mission on Valentine's Day of that year, not for his best girl (maybe a little) and wife Frances who he had met in church and married in 1942, but to help save the world from Hitler.
As a fighter pilot, McGee was proficient in virtually every combat aircraft in the European theatre of war and regularly flew throughout the war. The Tuskegee Airmen regularly served as bomber escorts for the Consolidated B-24 Liberator and Boeing B17 Flying Fortress bombers over Germany, Austria, and the Balkans. High-risk daylight strafing attacks over enemy railyards and airfields were amongst McGee’s array of missions.
After flying 137 combat missions, he returned to the US and became a flight instructor for the North American Mitchell Bombers used by a unit of the Tuskegee Airmen.
McGee went on to fly as a fighter pilot in the Korean War, completing 100 missions and was promoted to Major. Once again during Vietnam, he was called up to serve his country and flew another 172 combat missions.
After the Vietnam War, McGee was promoted to Colonel and retired in 1973 on having completed 409 combat missions; one of the highest on record of any combat pilot in US History. His post-retirement career was fraught with his continued dedication to military aviation, public service, and general good works. McGee’s grit and determination led him to complete his college degree, which was interrupted in 1942 by the war, at Columbia College at the age of 58.
McGee was honored with myriad military decorations including the Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross Bronze Star, Air Force Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Presidential Unit Citation, Korean Presidential Unit Citation, and many more.
On January 20, 2020, Charles McGee was promoted to Brigadier General and honored by President Donald Trump at the State of The Union Address.
With all of his accolades, honors, and awards, there is one honorarium that General McGee has yet to receive… There are no streets, squares, or museums named after him. Those accolades have been reserved for the man who chose a different life’s path…
His name was George Floyd (1973-2020).
Between 1997 and 2005, George Floyd served eight jail terms on charges ranging from drug possession to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. In 2007, he and five other men entered a woman’s apartment, placed a gun at her stomach, and robbed her. While it appears to be true that Floyd had been making some attempt to turn his life around, the fact remains that he was a criminal with a dangerous history and serious drug addiction problems.
On May 25, 2020, Floyd, in an attempt to pass a counterfeit $20 dollar bill, was arrested and killed in police custody. One of the four arresting officers, named Derek Chauvin, knelt with his knee on Floyd's neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds, leading to his death.
On June 25, 2021, Chauvin was convicted of murder and sentenced to 22.5 years in prison for second-degree murder.
There is a collective acknowledgment that George Floyd's death resulting from his arrest for attempting to pass a counterfeit $20 dollar bill, was the result of police misconduct. There have been many theories and post mortems regarding the state of Floyd’s Fentanyl-filled body at the time, etc, but, none of that matters.
What matters is the dangerous absurdity that ensued in the eye of the American Public turning a violent drug-addicted criminal into a Civil Rights figure. The spot where Floyd died has been designated “The George Perry Floyd Place”. Floyd’s likeness is the subject of murals and artistic depictions all over the world. Race baiter Al Sharpton, the Éminence Grise and Chief Grifter of the Race Industry, gave the eulogy at this funeral and it was not meant to heal, but to inflame and permanently destroy race relations in America. All in a day’s work for Sharpton...
Martin Luther King used the beauty of his soaring rhetoric to heal, unite and bring us together. Sharpton and other Race industry con men (and women) have chosen to exploit and monetize Floyd’s Death to their own ends. The misplaced Public Canonization of Floyd is a harbinger of the dangerous failure of our current culture to recognize virtue, civic responsibility, true heroism, and a real commitment to civil rights, racial harmony, and equality.
On May 21, 2021, the current occupant of the White House posthumously honored the "legacy" of George Floyd with his family present. What exactly is the ”legacy” of George Floyd? You tell me…
I guess there are now two roads to being honored by the White House: You can be a Hero or a Zero.
General McGee, I’m glad you are almost 102 years old and still with us. While you may not have a street, shrine, or mural dedicated in your honor… YOU are truly an American Hero and a shining example of The American Way.
-Emes