Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Luther H. Smith, a Tuskegee Airman

Luther H. Smith, a Tuskegee Airman who later worked as an aerospace engineer, has died on the Main Line. He was 89.

Luther H. Smith, a Tuskegee Airman who later worked as an aerospace engineer, has died on the Main Line. He was 89.

Smith's family says he died Wednesday morning at Bryn Mawr Hospital. He had been hospitalized frequently over the last two years but attended the inauguration of President Obama in January.

Smith flew 133 combat missions with the 332nd Fighter Group of the Army Air Corps. On his last mission, in 1994, he parachuted from his burning plane and was captured by German soldiers.

Smith retired in 1947 and earned his engineering degree in his home state of Iowa. He was an engineer for 37 years at General Electric.

Smith was one of about 300 original Tuskegee Airmen awarded the Medal of Honor in 2007.