Ex-Tuskegee Airman Alfred Thomas Farrar dies at age 99
Farrar left his Lynchburg hometown for Tuskegee after graduating from high school to began his aviation training in 1941.
Credit: Kendall Warner/The News & Advance via AP, File
FILE - In this Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020, file photo, Alfred Farrar, a Tuskegee Airman who is celebrating his 100th birthday in December, poses for a portrait in the doorway of his home in Lynchburg, Va. Farrar died on Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020, in Virginia, only days before a ceremony planned to honor his service in the program that famously trained Black military pilots during World War II. He was 99. Farrar s 100th birthday would ve been on Dec. 26.
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‘He’s a hero to our country’: Tuskegee Airman from Lynchburg memorialized with flyover
Saturday would have been Alfred Farrar’s 100th birthday
Taj Simmons, Reporter
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Alfred Farrar would have turned 100 on Saturday. He passed away on Dec. 17.
Northern Virginia pilot Andrew Crider arranged for more than a dozen pilots to depart Lynchburg Regional Airport and fly directly over Farrar’s old home on Bedford Avenue. Some of the pilots came from as far away as North Carolina.
“This matters,” said Crider. “Taking part in this tribute to his legacy, I couldn’t be more excited.”
Several of the pilots, including Lou Feldvary, flew the same T-6 aircraft from World War II that Farrar would have used during his service. Feldvary believes it’s important to pay respect to the surviving Tuskegee Airmen while they are still here.
A long-time Lynchburg resident and former Tuskegee Airman was honored at Monument Terrace on Christmas Day. He recently passed away, just days before his 100 birthday.
Fourteen planes flew through the cold, cloudy Lynchburg sky on Saturday to recognize the service and devotion of one man who was part of a landmark group of pilots, the