Overview

• Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. announced Hardy’s death this week at age 100; no cause of death was given.
• The organization says 13 documented original Tuskegee Airmen remain, despite some reports labeling Hardy the last World War II pilot.
• Hardy was 19 when he flew his first combat sortie as a Red Tail and completed 21 missions from Italy in World War II.
• He later flew 45 combat missions in the Korean War and 70 in the Vietnam War before retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 1971.
• After earning engineering degrees, he helped develop the Pentagon’s first global military telephone system and became a prominent steward of the Airmen’s story, with group honors including the 2007 Congressional Gold Medal and the National WWII Museum’s 2024 American Spirit Award.