Getting Word

Dates Alive: 1918-2000

Family: Woodson

Location (at interview): Seattle, WA

James Wiley, a Tuskegee Airman, received a degree in physics from the University of Pittsburgh and wanted to be a scientist, but because of his race could only get a job as a chauffeur. He obtained his pilot’s license and went to the Tuskegee Institute, a “paradise,” as an instructor. After enlisting in 1942, he served in the famed 99th Pursuit Squadron of the Army Air Force, flew more than a hundred missions over southern Europe, and was awarded the Air Medal. In 1965, Colonel Wiley retired from “a wonderful military career” and then worked for fifteen years as a customer engineer with the Boeing Company. He and his wife, Ruby, raised three children.