01:00 AM EST on Wednesday, January 21, 2009
George Lima, 89, applauds after watching Barack Obama sworn in. Lima took part in the March on Washington, in 1963.
EAST PROVIDENCE — He “never believed this day would come true.”
George S. Lima served in World War II as one of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first group of black fighter pilots and bomber pilots in the history of what then was the Army Air Forces. Their performance — after segregated training in Alabama — dispelled reservations in Washington about the ability of black men to fly in combat.
All the surviving members of the group were invited to attend President Obama’s inauguration, but poor health forced Lima — Rhode Island’s only Tuskegee airman — to stay home.
“I didn’t want to take that chance ... I can hardly walk across my living room,” said Lima, who turns 90 in April. When television cameras zoomed in on some of the airmen who did attend, he said, “There are my guys.”
Leaning closer toward the television, he said, “Let me see if I can recognize anybody ... If I was 30 years younger, I’d be there.”
Family and friends came by to watch the inauguration with him yesterday. Diana Lima took the bus over to be with her father-in-law and another relative brought coffee and doughnuts. George Lima said it was such a special occasion that he ought to get the fireplace going.
Diana’s husband, Robert, arrived right before the inauguration ceremony started. He raised a fist and exclaimed, “Power to the people. Our time has come.”
He showed off his T-shirt. It bore the faces of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Obama.
George Lima went to the March on Washington, in 1963, where an estimated 250,000 people came together to promote civil rights in a peaceful demonstration.
Yesterday, he listened as Mr. Obama said, “To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.”
Fighting back tears, Lima’s daughter-in-law grabbed his hand and said, “I’m glad you got to see this.”
L-R: Robert Lima, Napoleon X, George S. Lima, Marlene Britto
