New Tuskegee Airmen board members

Created on Friday, 07 December 2012 10:28 Last Updated on Friday, 28 December 2012 08:59 Published on Friday, 07 December 2012 10:28 Written by Courier Newsroom Hits: 2339

Two prominent Sewickley residents and the daughter of a newly discovered and living Tuskegee Airmen have been elected Trustees of the Tuskegee Airmen Memorial soon to be built in the Sewickley Cemetery.

G. STRATTON NASH

They are Edward Fulesday, the CEO of AKF Trial Technologies; G. Stratton Nash, who grew up in Sewickley and is a member of the Board of Directors, Sewickley Community Center and Kimberly L. Slater-Wood, the Director of Outreach for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Slater-Wood’s father, Sgt. Harold Slater, was a Flight Line technician for the Tuskegee 477th Composite Squadron stationed at Godman Field, Ky.

Because of their rich backgrounds in organization development and public policy, all three were appointed by Chairman/Founder Regis D. Bobonis Sr. to vacant positions on the Memorial’s Executive Committee. Fulesday was named Assistant Secretary, Nash as Second Vice Chairman and Chairperson/ Strategic Planning, and Slater-Wood as Secretary. Within the past six months Bobonis, the Memorial’s Principal Investigator, uncovered six additional Tuskegee Airmen. All served with the 477th and all were from the Hill District. Besides Slater-Wood’s father, who still resides in the family home in the Hill’s Crawford Square, they were the late Sgt. Cornelius Littlejohn, Cpl. James Colbert, Sgt. Edwin Wilson, Airmen J. H. Williamson and the Hayes twins-Norris and Morris.

“This raises the number of Airmen from the Hill District community to 22, the largest number of Airmen from within the City of Pittsburgh,” Bobonis said.

Slater-Wood had already made a huge contribution to the memorial. It was she who donated a Penguin uniform top autographed by super star Sydney Crosby. It was purchased at auction by James Burchard, CEO of the Sewickley-based Esmark Corporation.