RESOLUTION NO. _________, SERIES 2018
title
A RESOLUTION HONORING FRANK W. WEAVER BY DEDICATING THE CORNER OF SAINT FRANCIS LANE AND BROADMOOR BOULEVARD TO BE NAMED "FRANK WEAVER WAY" IN HIS HONOR.
BODY
SPONSORED BY: COUNCIL MEMBER BARBARA SHANKLIN
WHEREAS, Frank W. Weaver was born on December 28, 1926 in Louisville, Kentucky, and died on August 18, 2018 at the age of 91;
WHEREAS, at 18 years old, Mr. Weaver was drafted into the United States Armed Forces, and after basic training was assigned to the Tuskegee Army Air Field in Tuskegee, Alabama;
WHEREAS, during World War I, African American men in the U.S. had tried to become "aerial observers," but they were continuously rejected;
WHEREAS, on April 3, 1939, an appropriations law was passed to fund the training of African American pilots, and in 1941, during World War II, the first African American U.S. military pilots were trained at the Tuskegee Army Air field and Tuskegee University and became some of the best pilots in the U.S. Army Air Forces due to a combination of pre-war experience and the personal drive of those accepted for training;
WHEREAS, all pilots, mechanics, instructors, crew chiefs, cooks, service personnel, etc. that were a part of this new program at the Tuskegee Army Air Field are famously known as the Tuskegee Airmen and are credited with numerous accomplishments and received many distinguished unit citations, awards, and medals;
WHEREAS, Mr. Weaver was as one of the famed Tuskegee Airman and served our nation during World War II as Hanger Chief and a B-25 engine mechanic;
WHEREAS, after the war, Mr. Weaver, like the other African American war-time heroes, continued to experience racism upon his return to Louisville and had difficulty finding employment using the exceptional skills he learned in the military;
WHEREAS, Mr. Weaver worked for the Jeffersonville Quartermaster Depot, and later worked for General Electric where he retired a...
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