Las Cruces Vet celebrates 110th birthday: Tusgegee Airman & birthday on X-MAS
LAS CRUCES, NM (KVIA) - What better way to pay tribute to a WW2 Veteran, than to celebrate his birthday as well? We're talking about a former Tuskegee Airman who was born in 1915, and on Christmas, he celebrated his 110th birthday in grand fashion.
Dozens of people, including a long line of law enforcement vehicle and well-wishers, paraded through the streets in front of the home of Clayton Flowers, a World War 2 veteran, who's celebrating 110 years on this earth.
"I feel flattered," said Flowers, a Las Cruces man who has spent his life servine the USA: in the military, as a teacher, and as a member of the NAACP.
"I feel very confident that all of this is taking place, I don't know whether I deserve it or not," said Flowers, as he sat in front of his Las Cruces home as a handful of first responders pay their tribute -to him-.
Mr. Flowers was one of the original Tuskegee Airmen, which made up the group of U.S. Army's first African-American Pilots.
Justin Whitefield, a Batallion Chief with the Las Cruces Fire Department, said, "Being a Tuskegee airman just alone, this guy broke barriers that nobody really understands unless they've really, really done their history."
It's a history, that includes Flowers and more than 100 black officers, who were arrested and court-martialed on minor charges after trying to enter an all-white officers' club over 70 years ago. It was a sing of the times, and racism, of that era.
HISTORY .. THAT INCLUDES FLOWERS AND MORE THAN 100 BLACK OFFICERS.. WHO WERE ARRESTED AND COURT-MARTIALED ON MINOR CHARGES. AFTER TRYING TO ENTER AN ALL-WHITE OFFICER'S CLUB OVER 70 YEARS AGO. A SIGN OF THE TIMES.. AND RACISM.. OF THAT ERA.
"It is because of the Tuskegee Airmen that President Harry Truman back in 1945 thought it was prudent to integrate the military, so, they are responsible for the integrating of the military even back in 1945," said Bobbie Green, the director of the NAACP chapter in Doña Ana County, "so the military servicemen today owe him a debt of gratitude."
Gratitude.. for a humble man, who simply puts it as, "I've lived too long," said Fowler as he humbly chuckled.
ABC-7's Paul Cicala periodically does a segment on KVIA called "People, Places & Paul" that showcases interesting characters of El Paso, including diverse places in the borderland, along with the movers-and-shakers of our region, including Ciudad Juarez, & other parts of the USA & Mexico. To see more of his stories, you can click this link.
-----HERE'S MORE ON THE LIFE OF TUSKEGEE AIRMAN CLAYTON FLOWERS-----
Flowers was born Dec. 25, 1915, on Solisberg Road in rural Surry County, Virginia. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1941, joined the Army Air Corps and was assigned to officer candidate school in Tuskegee, Alabama. Flowers became part of the highly-decorated 477th Medium-Bomber Group, better known as the Tuskegee Airmen, the Army’s first Black pilots.
After the unit was transferred to Freeman Field near Seymour, Indiana, Flowers was part of a group of more than 100 Black officers who tried to enter an all-white officers club there on Apr. 5 and 6, 1945. Sixty-one of the Black officers were arrested and court-martialed on minor charges, with one officer convicted. President Harry Truman ordered the integration of the military in 1948 – in part because of the Freeman Field incident. All charges from the incident were dropped in 1995.
Flowers left the Army as a first lieutenant after five years of service.
He became a housing contractor, working with his brother, Fred, and their father, who came out of retirement to help. Like his father, Flowers became a successful bricklayer, but he had to give that up when he developed tennis elbow. Flowers left the family business to return to school, becoming a math teacher.
He married Evelyn Lorraine Church, a Michigan native who was also a teacher, on Aug. 11, 1951, in New York City. The couple settled on Manhattan’s lower east side. They raised three children and started traveling the U.S. and Canada after the birth of their first grandchild. The Flowers’ moved to Deming and then to Las Cruces in 1984. Evelyn Flowers died on Valentine’s Day 2008 at age 88.
Flowers attributes his longevity to a tolerance for others and their beliefs. And, although Flowers said he has “always been a talkative person, I’m not really obsessed with myself,” he told the Bulletin in a 2022 interview.
