More than 60 years ago, when it was thought by many that African-Americans were incapable of piloting airplanes, Vernon Kingsley Sport knew he could.

Mr. Sport enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps after graduating from high school and volunteered repeatedly to fly with the pioneering black aviators who became known as the Tuskegee Airmen. He was turned down several times because he didn’t have a college degree, said his son-in-law Dr. Alfred Wyatt Jr., a Fayetteville dentist.

“It was an exercise in determination. He continuously requested to try out for the airmen. He didn’t have a college education at that time, but he was very well-read.” more