Presidents Message

I wish to thank you in advance for selecting me as your new president. As your president, I have sworn my allegiance to uphold the honor and highly esteemed reputation of the Tuskegee Airmen, chapter, and TAI organization as a whole. With your support, I know that we can maintain and uphold the image that the George S. “Spanky” Robert’s chapter has come to represent. As the new chapter president, the time has come for us to embark on a new journey and direction. We have lost a number of members within the past couple of years. As a result, it now is time to reinvent our chapter and reformulate the chapter’s image to a new and improved version of what we stand for as a chapter.

Unfortunately, this year 2019 began with the loss of DOTA Boyd Taylor, who was one of our most active DOTA members and primary representative of support for the chapter during various events, souvenir sells, and speaking engagements, especially during prior years. He remained quite active until a fall which robbed his health within weeks prior to his 100th birthday celebration on October 20, 2018.

Also, on February 15, 2019, the loss of DOTA Larry E. Brown, Jr., who also suffered from declining health added to the further decline of our DOTA resources. I remain hopeful and pray that this will be a great year for our chapter as DOTA George Hudson, Jr. has increased his participation to represent the chapter. However, DOTA Hudson also is facing declining health issues but has been active so far in supporting chapter events whenever possible. I encourage all of our members to continue to talk to and tell the younger generations about the achievements of these American heroes and WWII veterans who made their mark in America’s History.

Our Education Assistance Awards and Youth programs have declined over the past couple of years due to the lack of donations and fundraising. Therefore, my vision for the chapter is: 1) setting new goals; 2) identifying steps needed to meet those goals; 3) soliciting more member involvement, and 4) working on increasing the chapter membership. These programs support the entire Sacramento area and surrounding communities to provide assistance to many of our high school students and graduating seniors.

Our Youth program provides our youth with an introduction to aviation, airplane rides, and the flight simulator experience and we support local flight training courses. However, this year our Youth Aviation program adds a new dimension of training involving Aircraft Maintenance with a focus on certification.

In conclusion, I want to encourage all members to get involved and assist with reviving and building the chapter’s standing and representation in the communities. Additionally, it is most important that we continue the History and Legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen. I am honored to have this opportunity to represent the DOTAs and members of the George S. “Spanky” Roberts Chapter.

Sincerely,
Michael Hughes, President
George S. “Spanky” Roberts Chapter Tuskegee Airmen, Inc.®