Honored 1991
Fitzroy Newsum was born in New York City on May 22, 1918. He entered the New York National Guard in 1939, serving in the infantry, but in March of 1943, he began a distinguished career in aviation as a cadet member of the Tuskegee Airmen. He progressed rapidly and became a flight leader and squadron operations officer for the 477th Bomb Group.
During the Korean War he served with the 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing and 374th Troop Carrier Wing in Japan. By 1959, his assignments had moved to the ballistic missile arena, when he became the chief of the missile training branch of the 703 Strategic Missile Wing (Titan I) at Lowry Air Force Base.
After he retired from the Air Force in 1970, he worked with Martin Marietta, Denver Aerospace, (later Lockheed/Martin Corporation) as manager of public relations. He played a major role in the effort to place a Tuskegee Airmen memorial statue at the United States Air Force Academy.
In 1989, he received the Brigadier General Noel F. Parish Award for outstanding achievement on behalf of the Tuskegee Airmen. In 2007, Newsum, along with other Tuskegee veterans were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal (the highest civilian award presented by the U.S. Congress to an individual or group for an outstanding deed or act of service) by President George W. Bush.
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