First black helicopter pilot has died

From the Associated Press:

RENTON, Wash. — William H. Holloman, a Tuskegee airman in World War II who also served in Vietnam, has died at age 85.

Tuskegee Airmen Inc., an association of Tuskegee Airmen, said Thursday that Holloman died Friday at Valley Medical Center in Renton after suffering a heart attack. He was a St. Louis native who lived in Kent.

As an 18-year-old Holloman entered the Army Air Corps and trained with the all-black program at the Tuskegee, Ala., Army Flying School.

Tuskegee Airmen says after the war Holloman worked as a commercial pilot but was recalled in 1966 to serve in Vietnam, becoming the Army’s first black helicopter pilot.

His funeral is scheduled Monday at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in St. Louis, followed by burial at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery.