About: Hiram Mann

Hiram Mann (May 23, 1921 – May 17, 2014) was an American aviator, retired lieutenant colonel in the United States Air Force, and member of the Tuskegee Airmen's 332nd Fighter Group, an elite squadron of African-American airmen during World War II. Mann flew forty-eight missions over Europe as a member of the 332nd Fighter Group during the war. Mann was a member of the "Red Tails," as the Tuskegee Airmen were called at the time, so-called because the tails of the P-51D Mustangs flown by the African-American pilots in combat missions were painted crimson red. (The term "Tuskegee Airmen" did not come into use until the creation of a veteran's organization in 1972). Mann nicknamed his own fighter plane "The Iron Lady" after his wife.