The WWII pioneering pilot who rose above segregation

Lieutenant Colonel John I. Mulzac joined the United States military in 1942, at the age of 19. He trained with the Tuskegee Airmen, in Tuskegee, Alabama - the first US Army programme for African-American pilots at a time when the United States south was still legally segregated.

After being largely forgotten, the Tuskegee Airmen's contribution to the United States was finally recognised in 2007 when President Bush and the US congress awarded the Airmen the Congressional Gold Medal.

See the film on BBC. 

Runtime: 4:52

Published: November 2011, BBC