“David and Drew Losinski notified me after the discovery, and I began leading expeditions to the wreck site in 2015,” said Wayne Lusardi, Michigan’s State Maritime Archaeologist, based in Alpena. “The wreck is badly broken and distributed across approximately 10 acres of lake floor, but all the pieces are there. The State of Michigan, owner of the wreckage, issued a permit to the National Museum of the Tuskegee Airmen in Detroit to recover and conserve the aircraft. Since 2018, we have been systematically mapping, documenting, and recovering the wreckage.”

On May 4, Lusardi traveled from Alpena to the State Capital Building in Lansing. Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist presented Lusardi and his team with a 2023 Governor’s Award for Historic Preservation in the newly renovated Heritage Hall beneath the capital building. Around 100 State Senators and Representatives, family members, and spectators were in attendance.

“What an incredible honor to be recognized by Governor Whitmer for our work on this exciting underwater archaeological expedition,” Lusardi said.

Three other awards were presented this year, recognizing preservation efforts at the Hamtramck Stadium, Calumet Historic District, and Emerald Flats Apartments in Grand Rapids.

Courtesy Photo by Nick Lusardi Pictured, from left to right, are Lauren Bryant, Tonja Anderson-Dell, Wayne Lusardi, Eric Bryant, and Brian Smith at the dedication ceremony of a Tuskegee Airmen memorial at Port Huron in August 2021.

The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African American pilots trained to fly military aircraft during World War II. Nearly 1,000 pilots earned their wings and commission at Tuskegee, Alabama, and received advanced training at Selfridge Field on the shore of Lake St. Clair, and Oscoda Army Airfield in Iosco County, Michigan.

“The Tuskegee Airmen came to Michigan to train in P-40s and P-39s,” Lusardi said. “These fighter airplanes were state-of-the-art at the beginning of the war, but technology changed so rapidly that they quickly became obsolete, and relegated to training aircraft.”

Unfortunately, 15 Tuskegee Airmen were killed during training accidents in Michigan in 1943 and 1944. Over 15,000 U.S. Army pilots and aircrews were killed on American soil in training accidents during the war. Aside from Tuskegee Army Airfield, no archaeological sites directly related to the Tuskegee Airmen have been investigated. Two Tuskegee airplane wrecks are known in Michigan. Both are P-39 Airacobras and both are located in 30 feet of water.

“When airplanes crash on land, very often their remains are completely recovered, leaving nothing to indicate the accident location,” Lusardi said. “Aircraft that are lost in remote areas like mountains or deserts, or underwater, very often remain in place and can be studied by archaeologists. We have a very unique opportunity to study artifacts inadvertently left behind by the Tuskegee Airmen in Lake Huron.”

He continued to explain the expedition.

“In 2018, we documented and recovered the starboard side door, the bulletproof armored glass windshield, two drive shaft extensions required to connect the engine which was mounted behind the pilot to the forward gearbox and propeller, a wooden radio mast, and a flap actuator,” Lusardi said. “The primary instrument panel was also brought to the surface in 2018, and in addition to the gauges, featured a radio call number that positively identified the wreckage as that of Lt. Moody’s aircraft.”

Lusardi said that larger artifacts such as the four .50 cal. machine guns, a 37mm cannon, and the empennage, or tail of the aircraft were recovered in 2021.

“All three propeller blades, spread out on the lake bottom for nearly half a mile, were found and recovered in 2022,” Lusardi said. “It was then that I was able to determine the cause of the accident, and the trajectory of the aircraft in its final seconds.

“The guns and propeller went out of sync, and bullets pierced each blade, causing the Airacobra to hit the water. There was no way Lt. Moody could have bailed out, as he was traveling only 50 feet above the lake at nearly 200 miles per hour,” Lusardi reflected somberly.

Lusardi discovered that the only practical way of completing a project of this importance was through partnering with different agencies and organizations. In addition to the Tuskegee Museum in Detroit, Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Marine Division and the Michigan State Police provide boats, divers, sonar devices and metal detectors. The Noble Odyssey Foundation and Capt. Luke Clyburn, skipper of the U.S. Navy Sea Cadet training ship “Pride of Michigan,” provide vessels, dive equipment, and a group of young, enthusiastic Sea Cadets to search for and take photographs of artifacts. And the Losinski father and son team are always willing to help.

“I work with divers and archaeologists from around the country on this project,” Lusardi said. “They come to Michigan from as far away as Texas, California, and Florida, and are here on their own time and expense. Their contributions have been invaluable.”

He is honored to be a part of research that sheds light on the heroic accomplishments of the Tuskegee Airmen.

“The Tuskegee Airmen broke racial barriers during the Second World War and became the first African Americans to fly military aircraft. Their impact on the war effort, as well as their contributions to social change in the United States, should be forever recognized,” Lusardi said. “The Lake Huron Red Tails project helps to provide a voice to an often-forgotten moment in Michigan’s history. The aircraft wreck site provides an impetus for education and outreach events in St. Clair County, across Michigan, and throughout the United States.”

In August 2021, a memorial honoring Lt. Moody and the Tuskegee Airmen killed in Michigan was dedicated north of the Blue Water Bridge on the St. Clair River front at Port Huron. Eric Bryant, nephew of Lt. Moody, as well as two World War II veteran airmen, Lt. Col. Alexander Jefferson, and Lt. Col. Harry Stewart, attended the ribbon cutting ceremony.