Clarence C. Jamison

Clarence Clifford “Jamie” Jamison (February 25, 1918 – March 6, 2014) was a U.S. Army Air Force officer and combat fighter pilot with the 332nd Fighter Group's 99th Fighter Squadron, best known as the all-African American Tuskegee Airmen, "Red Tails," or “Schwarze Vogelmenschen” ("Black Birdmen") among enemy German pilots.

He was one of the first eight African American combat fighter pilots.

Jamison and Lt. Allen G. Lane became the first African American flying instructors at Tuskegee Army Air Field's P-40 transitional school.

Early life Jamison was born on February 25, 1918, in Little Rock, Arkansas. While at Chicago, Jamison pledged Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity's Iota chapter. In January 1944, Jamison led his squadron on a patrol mission where it encountered a massive formation of enemy German fighter planes attacking Allied ground positions. Outnumbered two-to-one, Jamison's squadron took the enemy head-on, shooting down five enemy aircraft.

After World War II, Jamison continued to serve in the newly desegregated U.S. Air Force, including assignments as an accounting and finance officer.

Honors, Book Tuskegee University awarded Jamison an Honorary Doctor of Public Service. The City of Cleveland gave Jamison the key to its city. President Barack Obama invited Jamison to attend Obama's January 20, 2009 inauguration. Jamison's life is described in the book, "Memories from Tuskegee: The Life Story of Lieutenant Colonel Clarence C. Jamison as told to James Christ."

Death Jamison died on March 6, 2014, in Cleveland, Ohio. He was interred at Arlington National Cemetery, Section 60, Site 10604.