The Tuskegee Airmen have been back in the news and public consciousness lately with George Lucas’ new film Red Tails, and Jeep wanted to take the opportunity to bring attention to these true American heroes.

This week on Jeep’s official blog, they published an interview with one of the real Tuskegee Airmen, Washington DuBois Ross. Ross’ account of his life and the war is fascinating and definitely worth a read. One of the best parts of the interview is a story from his time training at Selfridge Field in Michigan.

“Funny story, we used to fly the P-40 over summer homes on Lake Huron. On the way home my engine fails. I went down, split two trees, and sheared off the wings. About 100 people came out from their homes. I’m wearing all my gear and they said, ‘Were you the one flying that thing?’ I said, “No.” [laughs] The worst part: I called the base and they asked, ‘Did you damage the plane?’ ‘No.’ [laughs]”

In the interview, he also speaks about the struggles being an African-American pilot during World War II and how he tried not to stand out.

“I took the test on advanced aviation training. It was all whites when I went to take the test and they looked at me like a foreigner. While we waited for test results, everyone else was worried, like they’d struggled. So I pretended it was hard. I faked it, but I knew I had done well.”

Go to the official Jeep blog here to read the full interview with Washington DuBois Ross, and follow Bayside Chrysler Jeep Dodge on Facebook and Twitter to get the latest news and promotions from Jeep.