Lemuel R. Custis

Lemuel Rodney Custis (June 4, 1915 – February 24, 2005) was a U.S. Army Air Force officer, combat fighter pilot and Squadron Operations Officer with the 332nd Fighter Group's 99th Fighter Squadron, best known as the Tuskegee Airmen. He was one of the 1,007 documented Tuskegee Airmen Pilots.

Custis was Hartford, Connecticut's first African American police officer.

Custis was the first African American combat fighter pilot in the US military, sharing this distinction with cadet classmates Captain Benjamin O. Davis Jr., future Tuskegee Airmen Commander and future U.S. four-star general; 2nd Lt. George S. Roberts ("Spanky" Roberts)(September 24, 1918 - March 8, 1984); 2nd Lt. Charles DeBow (Feb 13, 1918 – April 4, 1968); and 2nd Lt. Mac Ross (1912-1944)

Custis was the last surviving member of this original African American US military combat fighter pilots.

Military career Custis left the Hartford Police Department to enlist in the U.S. Army Air Corps. On July 19, 1941, Custis was admitted into the U.S. Army Air Corps Tuskegee Aviation Cadet training program's inaugural class which started with thirteen at Tuskegee Army Air Field, Class 42-C-SE.

Custis served as the 99th Fighter Squadron's Squadron Operations Officer. He flew 92 missions during World War II in the European/ African/Middle Eastern Theater which included North Africa, Sicily and Italy. In 1975, he became the State's first African American chief of sales tax. In 1982, he retired as the Tax Department's Chief Examiner after a 30-year career. In 1995, he served as a film consultant for HBO's The Tuskegee Airmen.

Custis was a member of the Windsor Locks, Connecticut New England Air Museum's Board of Directors. He also served as an advisor to the Connecticut Aeronautical Historical Association.

In 1996, Custis attended the 25th Annual National Convention of Tuskegee Airmen in Seattle, Washington.

Honors In 2001, Central Connecticut State University awarded Custis an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities.

Death Custis died on February 24, 2005, at the Brookview Health Care Center in West Hartford, Connecticut. He was interred at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford, Connecticut, in Hartford County.