"'Duchess Arlene' soars above race," February 21, 2006

MARY CHIND / THE REGISTER Piece of history: A memorial to the black pilots known as the Tuskegee Airmen, who flew during World War 11, can be found at the Iowa Air National Guai'd Base at the Des Moines airport. This plane was named "Duchess Arlene," for Arlene Roberts Morris, pictured, who, as a school girl (below), dated Iowa pilot Robert Williams. 'Duchess Arlene' soars above race 'Wlien you live long enough, you see changes,' says a pioneering psychologist whose name graces a Tuskegee Airmen plane. FEBRUARY By MARY CHALLENDER REGISTER STAFF WRITER ust outside the Iowa Air National Guard Base at the Des Moines airport, three planes mounted on cement pillars seem to hover as if on permanent sentry duty. The first two commemorate pilots of the 132nd Fighter Wing. The third, a little off to the side, honors the dozen Tuskegee Airmen from Iowa. Most visitors to the site have probably heard of the Tuskegee Airmen, America's first black military pilots. Lx)oking at the full-scale model of the P-51D Mustang on display, visi¬ tors may even recognize the names of Luther Smith of Des Moines and Robert Williams of Ottumwa, Iowa's most famous Tuskegee graduates, painted on each side of the cockpit. But there's one name they're probably unfamiliar with, the one painted in big black letters on the nose of the plane. Who was the Duchess Arlene? Where does she fit in the story? BLACK HISTORY MONTH The question takes Arlene Morris back a long time — exactly how far back the elderly Johnston woman laughingly refuses to reveal. She was Arlene Roberts then, a high school junior in Moline, lU. She met Robert Williams, who was already out of high school, in Davenport. "He used to drive a little yellow convert¬ ible," Morris said. "That, of course, excited all the girls. He used to pick me and my sister up at Moline High School. I thought everyone was jealous that I was riding around in that." In 1943, WiUiams left for Alabama to enroll in the Negro Pilot Training Program at the famed Tuskegee Institute. He wrote Morris and she sent him a glamour shot of herself inscribed "Your 'dutchess' Arlene." When Williams was sent to Italy with the 332nd Fighter Group, he had his P-51D Mustang painted with a similar inscription. More than 50 years later, after Williams finally sold HBO on a movie called "The Tuskegee Airmen," his red-tailed plane would assume almost mythical status among a growing group of Tuskegee admirers. A See ARLENE, Page 8B SPECIAL TO THE REGISTER Details WHAT: Replica of a World War II P-51D Mustang, a memorial to the black pilots known as the Tuskegee Airmen. WHERE: Near the entrance of the Iowa Air National Guard Base, McKinley Avenue and Southwest 31st Street at the Des Moines airport. WEB SITE: www.fortdesmoines.org/tuskegee.shtml. It features historical photos and information on Iowa's Tuskegee Airmen, and photos from the memorial's 2002 dedication. University of Iowa Libraries. University Archives