Pittsburgh Tuskegee Airman Wendell Freeland

On march 5, 2011, the Veteran Veteran Voices of Pittsburgh transmedia oral history project captured the stories of WWII veteran Wendell Freeland.

Read the blog post by VVoP associate photographer, Andy Marchese...

VVoP historian Todd Depastino listens to Wendell Freeland's
veteran story.

Yesterday was the first day of my new personal project to photograph our nation’s veterans. Two other members of the Veteran Voices of Pittsburgh project and I spent a few hours with Wendell Freeland, a member of the Tuskegee Airmen who served as a bombardier aboard a North American B-25 Mitchell bomber in the 477th Bombardment Group in Selfridge Field, Michigan during World War II.

He also participated in what is today called the Freeman Field Mutiny, which is said to be one of the first civil rights movements in the country. Today Mr. Freeland is an attorney in Pittsburgh, PA.

Mr Freeland spent over three hours sharing his stories for us and I could not be more grateful for the opportunity to listen to them. Hearing him retell his experiences from 65 years ago like they happened only yesterday was nothing short of amazing. I don’t want to give too much of the interview away just yet (that’s what the video and audio portions are for!) but there were several points throughout where I couldn’t imagine going through what he did.

To read the rest of Mr. Marchese's blog and to view his photo gallery, visit Andy Marchese Photography.