09/03/2026
, September 3, 1918, Tuskegee Airman John W. Rogers Sr. was born in Knoxville, Tennessee.
As a child, Rogers dreamed of flying. After losing both parents, he moved to Chicago to live with an uncle. He later attended Chicago State University and earned a civilian pilot’s license through the Civilian Pilot Training Program on Chicago’s South Side.
Rogers entered the Army Air Forces and completed single-engine pilot training at Tuskegee Army Air Field. On August 5, 1942, he graduated with Class 42-G as a second lieutenant and joined the 99th Fighter Squadron, the first Black flying squadron sent into combat by the United States.
Flying missions in the Mediterranean theater, Rogers developed a reputation as an exceptionally accurate dive-bomber pilot. He ultimately completed 120 combat missions and rose to the rank of captain. Years later, he remembered that the pilots depended upon one another and understood that their performance was being judged through the racism surrounding the Tuskegee program.
Rogers carried that determination into civilian life. After the war, he applied to the University of Chicago Law School but was not initially admitted. According to his family, he returned in his captain’s uniform and argued that someone who had served his country deserved an opportunity to study. The school reconsidered.
He earned his law degree in 1948, entered private practice, and later served for 21 years as a Cook County Juvenile Court judge. In 2007, Rogers joined other Tuskegee Airmen in receiving the Congressional Gold Medal.
John W. Rogers Sr. died in 2014 at age 95. His life encompassed far more than wartime achievement. He answered exclusion with preparation, service, and a career devoted to the law, leaving a record that reached from the cockpit to the courtroom.
