Thomas Franklin Vaughns, believed to be the oldest living Tuskegee Airman at 105, inspired the congregation that gathered inside Barraque Street Missionary Baptist Church on Sunday.
“My brothers and sisters were members of a church, and I was the only one who did not believe in Jesus Christ,” Vaughns said, reflecting on his days as a 15-year-old in Lee County. “I remember so well my mother sat down beside me and said, ‘All of us belong to church, and when I go to heaven, I want all of my children around me. And you won’t be there.'”
Vaughns’ mother invited him to a revival and he asked the Lord to save him. He said the Holy Ghost took over and led him to testify.
“When I got to church, I cried out,” he said. “I was born again. The whole church just started shouting and going on. That was the greatest moment of my life.”
He then wondered what God wanted him to do next. He felt the calling to be a servant.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I tried,” he said.
One of just a few remaining aviators from the Black military group who fought in World War II, Vaughns commemorated his 105th birthday, which actually was last Monday, with community members and local and statewide leaders. He received letters from former President Bill Clinton, U.S. Sen. John Boozman, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, state Rep. Ken Ferguson and Jefferson County Sheriff Lafayette Woods Jr., along with proclamations from Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., of which Vaughns has been a member since 1948, and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc.
Edmond W. Davis, a Tuskegee Airmen biographer, read the letter from Clinton. It reads in part: “You have had the opportunity to be a part of one of the most fascinating times the world has ever known. I’m grateful for your service to our country with the Tuskegee Airmen, and I hope you have a wonderful celebration — you deserve it!”
Born in Marianna on July 7, 1920, Vaughns was drafted into the Army in 1940 and served as one of the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African American squadrons nicknamed the Red Tails who trained at present-day Tuskegee University in Alabama. Vaughns served in the U.S. Army Air Forces, which preceded the U.S. Air Force founded in 1947, and was discharged in 1952 after serving in the Korean War.
In 2019 Vaughns was presented with the National Defense Service Medal and replacements for the World War II Victory, American Campaign, Honorable Service Lapel Button and Good Conduct medals.
But he is mostly remembered in Pine Bluff and for his work with 4-H and the Jefferson County Cooperative Extension Service. Former state representative and County Judge Booker Clemons, who emceed Sunday’s gathering, worked under Vaughns in the Extension Service, said Vaughns sent him to Georgia to learn about their farmers markets before Vaughns helped organize one locally.
Former state Rep. Ben McGee recalled after winning a state 4-H contest at a young age, Vaughns said, “I’m tired of going to Washington, D.C.,” where the president would usually shake hands with 4-H representatives across the country, because the president at the time would not shake hands with Black 4-H winners. So Vaughns sent McGee to a convention in St. Louis where he met other elected officials, McGee said.
Perry Stuckey, a retired senior vice president at Eastman Chemical Co., announced that a scholarship at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff would be established in honor of Vaughns. Stuckey and his wife donated $5,000 to the scholarship, the recipients of which Stuckey said would be selected by faculty and staff.
Joseph Wood, the chairman of the Republican Party of Arkansas, presented the letter from Sanders.
“Because of you, Brother Vaughns, and many others like you and before you, I stand on your shoulders because of you,” Wood said.
“Because of you and what you’ve endured, I can now ascend to this type of position like senators, representatives and sheriffs and so many here this church. … You’re a trailblazer, and so thank you for what you’ve done and we can come behind you and ascend.”