Lieutenant Colonel George Hardy was born in South Philadelphia on June 8, 1925. He was the second of seven children and grew up during a time of racial segregation. Hardy wanted to join the military and follow in his older brother footsteps, but didn't want to join the Navy which was racially segregated at the time.

In early March of 1943, Hardy joined the United States Army at 17 years old. He had one goal, which was to go to Tuskegee and become a pilot.

Hardy would graduate from Tuskegee and go on to serve as a P51 pilot flying 21 combat missions over Germany during World War II. He later flew 45 combat missions during the Korean War, and 70 combat missions in Vietnam. In his career Hardy would fly a total of 136 combat missions.

Interview recorded on November 3, 2023



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Video Credits:
Interviewer Luke Ryan
Director of Photography Umit Gulsen