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Dr. Henry Wise, 82; Tuskegee Airman, Medical Director

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From Staff and Wire Reports

Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr., 82, a former medical director of Bowie State University and a World War II pilot with the Tuskegee Airmen, died May 2 at Prince George Hospital Center in Maryland after a heart attack.

Born and raised in Cheriton, Va., Wise graduated from Virginian Union University, then served from 1942 to 1946 in the Tuskegee Airmen, the highly decorated African American unit that flew combat missions in Europe during World War II.

A pilot with the 99th Pursuit squadron, his plane was shot down in a raid on the Polesti oil fields in Romania, and he was a prisoner of war for about three months.

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He was rescued and repatriated by Soviet troops.

Wise graduated from Howard University Medical School after the war.

He practiced medicine in Bowie, Md., and served as medical director of Bowie State University.

He retired from private practice in the early 1990s.

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