When David Fax was a cadet in the Air Force ROTC detachment at Howard University in the early 1970s, one of his professors asked him what he knew about the Tuskegee Airmen. Stumbling for an answer, Fax sheepishly admitted he didn't know anything about the historic group of Black military pilots and service members who fought heroically during World War II.
Fax was about to get an education, largely courtesy of that professor: retired Air Force Lt. Col. Shelton "Ivan" Ware, one of the few remaining Documented Original Tuskegee Airmen , or DOTA, still alive.
"We fought two wars," Ware, 101, told Military.com recently. "You had to fight the war of segregation, and you also had to do your duty as far as the enemy was concerned. Keep them from killing you and the rest of your buddies."
When Ware joined the Army Enlisted Reserve Corps on April 1, 1942, he not only started down a path that would culminate in a 32-year military career. He also became part of history, serving as a weapons and vehicle maintenance technician with the famed Red Ball Express , a collection of predominantly Black troops that helped supply Allied forces during World War II.
The Red Ball Express -- named for the red balls that marked its routes and trucks -- brought essential supplies, including gasoline, food and ammunition, to the front lines, and it is no exaggeration to state that without the contributions of Ware and others, the Allies might have suffered a different outcome. For more than two years, Ware ensured that weapons and vehicles operated as smoothly as possible while stationed throughout Europe.
Ware told Military.com that, before joining the Red Ball Express, he had no experience as a mechanic.
"My specialty was small arms," Ware said. "Give me anything from a .22 to a .75 mm Howitzer, and I can do a job on it."
During the war, Ware did not realize exactly what Black pilots were accomplishing through their service at the time. He said that in the early days of the critical Allied invasion of Normandy that began in June 1944 -- Ware did not step foot onto Omaha Beach until four weeks after D-Day -- he had heard stories of some Black airmen, and later learned they were part of the all-Black 332nd Fighter Wing .
Nearly 75% of soldiers assigned to the Red Ball Express were Black, and collectively, they did yeoman's work until the program was disbanded in November 1944, accounting for transporting roughly 412,000 tons of munitions, fuel and sustenance that kept the Allied troops armed and fortified. Even in the face of discrimination, they focused on completing their job.
"Day after day after day, they were barraged by a bunch of garbage that they had to deal with, and rather than get upset, get in fights, throw your hat down and walk away, they said, 'I'm a professional first. I'm going to do my job,'" said Fax, Ware's former student at Howard.
Despite occasionally being the subject of racism from his fellow service members, Ware says he experienced some uplifting moments during WWII. He said receiving mail from home was always an emotional game-changer, going so far as to term it "a religious moment" when a letter or package arrived.
Ware, who was awarded two Service Stars, achieved the rank of staff sergeant by the time he was honorably discharged from the Army in June 1946. Two years later, he completed the Air Force ROTC program at Howard and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. After WWII, Ware helped train Air Force cooks and bakers, served as a training officer at the Air Reserve Center Program in Ohio, was director of military training at Wiesbaden Air Base, Germany, for three years and served with AFROTC programs at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and at Howard, where he mentored students like Fax.
"Everybody was glad the war was over," said Ware, who also served during the Korean War. "Even if you weren't directly affected, you knew that it was affecting a lot of families, both the enemies and ours. People were dying for nothing."
Ware retired from the Air Force in September 1974.
"He is healthy. Sometimes he moves better than me," said Jerome Hodge, president of the East Coast chapter of Tuskegee Airmen Inc. "What he talks about is if you have opportunities, you make a decision, you stand on it and you move on it."
Even into his second century on this Earth, Ware is still moving. He credits his longevity to "outrunning [his] age," staying one step ahead. As an active member of Tuskegee Airmen Inc., he has not stopped spreading the gospel of what those brave men represented and why it is so important for younger generations to hear those stories.
Asked what he would like current military members to take from the Tuskegee Airmen's example, Ware was as succinct as any 101-year-old man has earned the right to be.
"That all war is stupid," Ware said. "Avoid it at all costs, and you come out ahead."
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