Retired Lt. Col. Bill Wheeler is 87.  He was a fighter pilot in World War II but hung up his wings after the war since he says he couldn’t afford to buy or rent a plane and couldn’t get a job as an airline pilot because of his skin color.

Bill is one of a rare group of black men who graduated flight school in the 1940’s in Tuskeegee, Alabama, serving their country in battles overseas, fighting racism in their own ranks at the same time.

“All the way” Bill says of his segregation during the war.  “Even in combat.  All the way, every step of the way.”

The group is now known as the Tuskeegee Airmen.

Wheeler was inducted into the service in 1943 and flew many combat missions, credited with destroying three enemy bombers.  He left the Army in 1945 and hadn’t grabbed a rudder since. 

A couple of weeks ago, Bill Wheeler jumped at the opportunity to take off again in a Piper J3 Cub single engine plane, just like the one he learned to fly seven decades ago.  He joined fellow pilot (and CBS Radio Reporter) Dan Taylor at a grass airfield in Ghent, New York on a bright, clear Sunday morning.

“It was a resurrection for me” Bill says of his return to the skies.  “A wonderful experience.”

Taylor sat in the front seat and handled the takeoff and landing.  Bill sat in back and took the controls in flight, saying “some things you never forget and that’s one of them.”  He was beaming when he climbed out of the aircraft.

Bill has three sons, two grandkids and a great grandchild and says he spends most of his time talking to kids in schools about his experiences.  Now he has another one to share.