WASHINGTON -- The Tuskegee Airmen were called racist and hurtful names as they became the nation's first black military pilots during World War II.
Yesterday, they were called heroes.
About 300 airmen, widows and relatives sat in the Capitol Rotunda as the Tuskegee Airmen received the Congressional Gold Medal - the nation's highest civilian honor - and a salute from President Bush.
The award is recognition of the airmen's role in fighting two wars: one against America's enemies abroad and another against ignorance and racial intolerance at home.
"The Tuskegee Airmen helped win a war, and you helped change our nation," Bush said. "And the medal that we confer today means that we're doing a small part to ensure that your story will be told and honored for generations to come."
The award isn't enough to atone for the "unforgivable indignities" and the unreturned salutes the airmen endured from white servicemen, Bush said.
Putting his hand to his head, he told them, "On behalf of the office I hold and a country that honors you, I salute you for the service to the United States of America."
Several airmen, some of whom entered the Rotunda with the aid of canes or wheelchairs, stood and returned the salute.
Marylanders receiving medals yesterday included LeRoy A. Battle, a resident of Harwood in Anne Arundel County who flew bombing missions in Europe as a second lieutenant and navigator.
"It was a bittersweet thing because it took 60 years to do it," said Battle, 85, who was one of 100 black officer trainees arrested in April 1945 at Freeman Field in Indiana during a civil rights confrontation over the use of the officers' club.
"We stuck together," he said. "We banded together."
Battle, a New York City native who has lived in Maryland since 1950 and taught school in Prince George's County, said he plans to display the medal on his coffee table for his three grandchildren to see.
The youngsters - ages 9, 8, 5 - are learning about the history of the aviators, he said. The oldest told his teacher that he wanted to portray a Tuskegee Airman during a Black History Month event this year.
"It's hitting home," Battle said. The airmen join George Washington, Rosa Parks, Jonas Salk, Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, Charles Lindbergh and the Little Rock Nine as Congressional Gold Medal recipients.
