MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The VA Medical Center in Memphis may be renamed for a renowned Black World War II fighter pilot from Memphis.
Congressman Steve Cohen (D-Memphis) said Monday he introduced a bill to rename the hospital in honor of Lt. Col. Luke J. Weathers Jr., who was a member of the Tuskegee Airmen during the war.
Weathers, who graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis, flew a P-51 fighter he named “Spirit of Beale Street” as he escorted bombers over Italy beginning in 1944.
He is credited with shooting down several German planes and was awarded the Air Medal with seven clusters, the Distinguished Flying Cross and the American Theatre Victory Medal.
Cohen said Weathers returned to Memphis a hero and was the first Black man to receive the key to the city.
He was 90 when he died in 2011. He was buried with full honors at Arlington National Cemetery.
