WWII Tuskegee Airmen Roger Bill Terry dies at 87

Roger 'Bill' Terry dies at 87; member of WWII Tuskegee Airmen
Liz O. Baylen, Los Angeles Times
Roger Terry holds a picture of his younger self.
Terry was the only member of the unit convicted in the Freeman Field Mutiny, in which black officers plotted to integrate an all-white officer's club in Indiana in 1945. He was pardoned in 1995.
By Molly Hennessy-Fiske
June 14, 2009
Roger "Bill" Terry, the only member of the all-black group of World War II pilots known as the Tuskegee Airmen convicted in what became known as the Freeman Field Mutiny, died of heart failure Thursday at Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center. He was 87.

Terry, born in Los Angeles on Aug. 13, 1921, earned an athletic scholarship to UCLA, where he played basketball and roomed with Jackie Robinson.

Terry did not shy away from discussing his discharge.

"It was a badge of honor for him," Jeff Terry said of his father's discharge. "He was never bitter about it. He was in fact quite proud of it."

On Aug. 2, 1995, the Army pardoned him, restored his rank and refunded his $150 fine. Two years ago, Terry and several other airmen collectively received a Congressional Gold Medal from President George W. Bush in Washington.
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WWII Tuskegee Airmen Roger Bill Terry dies at 87