Roger Terry | 1921-2009

Tuskegee Airman Roger Terry died of heart failure at Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center, said Theodore Lumpkin, president of the Los Angeles chapter of the World War II black fighters. Terry was 87.  (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

Roger Terry, center, poses with other airmen in training at Tuskegee airfield in Alabama. He went on to graduate from flight school in 1944.  (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

Tuskegee Airman Roger Terry of Inglewood shows old photographs of himself and paperwork clearing his name after he was court-martialed. Terry and more than 100 black officers were arrested in April 1945 for refusing a general’s demand they sign papers admitting they were wrong for protesting the segregated club at a military airfield. The conviction was reversed 50 years later.  (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

Two years ago, Terry and several other airmen collectively received a Congressional Gold Medal from President George W. Bush in Washington.  (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)