A portion of Interstate 80 through Solano County was dedicated to honor the Tuskegee Airmen.

A bill by Senator Lois Wolk, D-Solano, to honor the Tuskegee Airmen and the contributions they made during World War II won approval in Sacramento and designates Interstate 80 between Midway Road and the State Route 12 East interchange as the Tuskegee Airmen Memorial Highway.

The dedication ceremony took place Thursday at the VA Memorial Hall, Dixon.. City officials and others spoke, along with Vacaville resident Lt. Colonel James C. Warren, USAF, retired, an original Tuskegee Airman.

Special guest Edith Roberts participated in unveiling a replica of the Tuskegee Airmen Memorial Highway sign. Her husband, Col. George S. Roberts, was the first Tuskegee Airman and later became commander of the famed Tuskegee Airmen 99th Fighter Squadron and commander of the 332nd Fighter Group.

The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African-American military aviators in the U.S. armed forces. During World War II, African Americans in many states were still subject to the Jim Crow laws^, and the American military was racially segregated, as was much of the federal government.

The 99th Fighter Squadron scored the first aerial victory for the Tuskegee Airmen by downing a German FW-190.

Robert Vickers sang the National Anthem and the adopted Tuskegee Airmen song, “Straighten Up and Fly Right.” A fly-over will be flown by Bob Hertan and Lloyd Tincher flying a Beech Skipper owned by Lt. Colonel James Warren.

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