William E. Whitlow Jr.

My dad was born in Dallas, Texas, but moved to Chicago as a young boy. He enlisted in the military in 1942 and was appointed an aviation cadet in October of that year. He was ordered to report to Tuskegee Army Flying School in Alabama within 15 days. Before joining the service, he was captain of the ROTC while at Wendell Phillips High School on Chicago's South Side, and attended Wilson Junior College there, where he met my mother, Ruth Darden. He received his bachelor's degree from George Williams College in the Hyde Park neighborhood, an area best known now as home to Barack and Michelle Obama. It also is home to the University of Chicago. My dad was a top-notch swimmer and was the only Black on his college swim team. He also excelled at the gymnastics rings. He was smart too, and had an excellent academic record, which was commended by the board of the 66th AAF Flying Training Detachment at Tuskegee Institute. Military officials also praised him for being beyond reproach.