1st Lieutenant James H. Harvey III, 99th Pursuit SODN, Lockbourne AAF, March 1946. (Photo Credit: James Harvey) 

The potential for failure stayed present in his mind and in those of his comrades, but they stayed the course with the mindset that everything they did had to be perfect. The system was designed to make them fail, but Harvey was not the type to let that happen. He set out to prove that he could learn to fly; to prove that African Americans could do anything anyone else could do, and to prove that a strong will to win can take you as far as you want.

After completing combat training in 1945, Harvey joined the 332nd Fighter Group, better known as the Tuskegee Airmen. His sight was set on war, with his bags packed and ready. However, with one hour left before his group was to board a ship to Italy, a message came down: the war was over. The group settled at Lockbourne Air Force Base in Ohio until 1949, when orders would come down that changed Harvey’s life and the trajectory of his entire career.

In 1949 the Chief of Staff of the Air Force sent directives to all the fighter groups across the U.S. Each group was to select its top three pilots for a gunnery competition in Las Vegas. Harvey, along with Captain Alva Temple, 1st Lieutenant Harry Stewart, and alternate pilot 1st Lieutenant Halbert Alexander, were chosen to represent the 332nd. But Harvey's competitors didn’t expect much.

“They didn't see us as legitimate competitors,” Harvey said.

Their white competitors flew more advanced aircrafts, the P-51 and P-82. Meanwhile, Harvey and his teammates were flying the “obsolete” P-47. Even with that disadvantage, Harvey and his team surprised everyone by winning every single category: aerial gunnery, panel strafing, dive bombing, skip bombing and rocket firing.

“They put their best up against us, and we beat their best” Harvey said. “We beat their best at everything.”

U.S. Air Force Capt. Alva Temple, 1st Lt. Harry Stewart, 1st Lt. James Harvey and 1st Lt. Halbert Alexander of the 33nd Fighter Group.

U.S. Air Force Capt. Alva Temple, 1st Lt. Harry Stewart, 1st Lt. James Harvey, and 1st Lt. Halbert Alexander pose with their 1949 Weapons Meet trophy in May 1949 at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, Nev. (U.S. Air Force photo)

That was the very first "Top Gun" competition. For decades, however, the winners of those first games were listed as "unknown." The 332nd Fighter Group was not recognized as the proper winner until 1995, 46 years after winning the competition. The trophy from that year even “mysteriously” went missing for more than 50 years until, in 2004, a historian discovered the trophy in storage and pushed for it to be put on display at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. In 2022 after 73 years, a plaque was unveiled at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas to honor the group’s historic win.

“Feels good to get it, however…” Harvey continued. He said he knows that it should have been in the record books a long time ago. His belief is that their skin color kept them from being recognized. Now, Harvey is just grateful that the truth is finally out there.  

Lieutenant Colonel James H. Harvey went on to become one of the most decorated war heroes of his time. Not only did his dream of flying come true, but he served as a member of the distinguished pursuit squadron based in Tuskegee, Alabama: The Tuskegee Airmen. Thousands of Tuskegee Airmen trained in Alabama, but fewer than 400 were deployed. The airmen flew more than 15,000 individual missions — Black airmen flew double the number of combat missions as white pilots, according to PBS — and shot down 112 enemy airplanes in World War II, according to the National World War II Museum.

In 2007, the Tuskegee Airman received a Congressional Gold Medal.

[Related: Who Are The Tuskegee Airmen? The story behind the airmen and their double victory]

Although he never saw combat in World War II, Harvey was the first Black jet fighter pilot to fly missions over Japan and Korea, flying 126 combat missions throughout his career. He became one of the best, if not the best, pilots of his generation. His accomplishments speak for themselves.

So, as the “ever-joking” Lt. Col. Harvey celebrates his 100th birthday, he thinks back to all the lessons he has learned. He takes a moment and gives wise words he believes are the key to a long, happy life: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. That’ll carry you through if you think about it. And always be truthful, have a sense of humor and have a good, good belly laugh at least once a day.”

William Peterson is a senior multimedia journalist at Rocky Mountain PBS. You can reach him atwilliampeterson@rmpbs.org.