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Oral history interview of Charles Walter Dryden, part one of two

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@ Atlanta History Center

Brown, Myers

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In part one of this two-part interview, Charles Dryden describes his experiences as a Tuskegee Airman during World War II.Charles Dryden was a Tuskegee Airman during World War II.VETERANS HISTORY INTERVIEW CHARLES DRYDEN Atlanta History Center Interviewer: Myers Brown Transcriber: Frances Westbrook INT: Please state your name, date of birth and place of birth. Charles Dryden: Charles Walter Dryden, born September 16, 1920, in New York City. INT: Where were you and what do you remember about when you heard that the United States had been attacked at Pearl Harbor? CD: On that day, well, I have to back up just a little bit. I had begun flight training in Tuskegee, army flight school on August 19, 1941. The program consisted of three phases, the primary, the basic, and the advanced phase, each of which lasted about ten weeks, a total of about eight months. OK. On Pearl Harbor Day, a week before, my classmates and I had completed the primary phase. There were eleven of us, we were the second class that went through flight training. The first class began on August 19 [he may mean July 19], 1941, before Pearl Harbor, and similarly my class started on August 19, 1941, about three months before Pearl Harbor. So by that time my class had whittled down, had been whittled down from eleven starting to four who completed the primary phase. So the four of us had been given ten days of leave to go home and celebrate and show...
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Video/Quicktime
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This material is protected by copyright law. (Title 17, U.S. Code) Permission for use must be cleared through the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center. Licensing agreement may be required.
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Atlanta History Center

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Digital Library of Georgia