Former Tuskegee Airman Alfred Thomas Farrar has reportedly died at the age of 99.
Farrar is reported to have died Thursday (December 17) at his home in Lynchburg, Virginia just days before what would have been his 100th birthday on December 26, as well as an upcoming ceremony for his service, his son, Roy, confirmed to the Associated Press via WAVY.com.
The Tuskegee Airmen were the first Black military aviators in the United States Army Air Corps (AAC), which predated the U.S. Air Force, during World War II. A ceremony was planned by the Lynchburg Area Veterans Council was scheduled to honor Farrar and his service during a "troop rally" on Christmas Day, according to WFXR TV via the AP.
Farrar left Lynchburg for aviation training in Tuskegee, Alabama after graduating high school in 1941, which he recently told the News & Advance "was the next best thing to do" in a story about his upcoming 100th birthday that ran last week.
Farrar trained to be a pilot during his time with the U.S. Army Air Corps program, but did not participate in combat missions overseas and didn't mention much about his time as a Tuskegee Airman, his son told the AP.
“It was just something that he did at the time, that was needed at the time,” Roy Farrar said via the AP.
Farrar studied to be an aerospace engineer and worked as an engineer with the Federal Aviation Administration for four decades after being discharged by the U.S. Army in 1943, according to the AP.
Roy Farrar said a separate memorial ceremony will be planned this week and is expected to include several planes participating in a fly over honoring his father.
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