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Tuskegee Airmen presentation held at Delaware Public Archives

February 20, 2018

The Delaware Public Archives celebrated African-American History Month by hosting a program on the Tuskegee Airmen Feb. 3.

Maj. Gen. Ernest G. Talbert served as keynote speaker for the event. He detailed the distinguished history of the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II as well as earlier accomplishments of individual black aviators who flew for the French air force during World War I. 

Talbert is the first African-American general in the long history of the Delaware National Guard. He is the immediate past president of the John H. Porter First State Chapter Tuskegee Airmen Inc.

Talbert is a command pilot with over 6,500 flying hours including combat hours in Operation Desert Storm and the Balkans conflict. In 2002, he became wing commander of the 166th Airlift Wing and oversaw the largest mobilization in the wing's history. He served in combat zones in 1991 in Southeast Asia in Operation Desert Storm and later was wing commander from 2003 to 2005 in combat missions in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In 2005, he became chief of staff, HQ, DANG, and was promoted to the rank of brigadier general, becoming the highest-ranking African-American in the over 350-year history of the Delaware National Guard. Talbert's broad diversity and scope of military flying and command have earned him some 26 awards, including the Legion of Merit with oakleaf clusters and the Meritorious Service Medal with oakleaf clusters. 

Upon his retirement in January 2009, he accepted a state promotion to the rank of major general.

A product of the Delaware public school system, he received a bachelor’s degree in economics from New York University in 1972 and an MBA from the University of Delaware in 1983. Talbert is a 2012 inductee into the Delaware Aviation Hall of Fame, and he currently serves on the Delaware Technical Community College Board of Trustees.

 

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