LOUISVILLE — World War II veteran John Carter Sr. recalled the hardships faced by black soldiers who fought Germans and endured discrimination within their own ranks.

        Mr. Carter said he and nearly 1,000 other blacks known as the Tuskegee Airmen sometimes felt they were fighting two enemies — the Germans and white Americans “who didn't do anything to support us.”

        “Some things were so painful, it has taken me a lifetime to forget,” Mr. Carter told about 40 people who gathered Saturday night at Jefferson County police headquarters to honor primarily black veterans from Louisville.

        Organizers hope to make the ceremony, sponsored by the local National Association for the Advancement of Colored People chapter and several kindred organizations, an annual event during Memorial Day weekend.

        Mr. Carter, now 78, a retired Louisville businessman who served 22 years as an Army aviator and later as an intelligence officer, said black soldiers suffered a host of indignities.

        Mr. Carter, who retired as an Army lieutenant colonel in 1962, graduated from high school at age 14 and got his wings at 16.

        Because of racial segregation during World War II, the black military aviators were trained separately from other soldiers — near Tuskegee, Ala.

        Mr. Carter flew 46 missions, mainly over France, Italy and Belgium. His P-51 Mustang fighter was hit by German anti-aircraft fire over Belgium in February 1945, but he piloted the plane back to the base.

        “To this day, I don't know how I got it home,” he said in his speech. He took some flak in the forehead during the incident, and he was subsequently grounded.

        Mr. Carter said he never figured out why the Tuskegee Airmen's planes were painted with red tails and red propeller housings.

        “It seemed like we were being made targets, so the Germans could knock us out of the sky,” he said.

        Mr. Carter said commanders wouldn't change the paint pattern, but he never heard a reason why.

        Mr. Carter said some commanders of air squadrons complained when their planes were escorted by Tuskegee Airmen.

        He underscored the discrimination blacks faced in his speech, saying, “I was there. I know what they (whites) did. ... They didn't call us black back then. You know what they called us. ... It brings tears to my eyes, when I think what I went through.”

        During the ceremony, about 20 veterans of World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars, along with several active-duty servicemen, were given medallions designed by Louisville artist Martha Brown.

        The Derek Anderson Foundation, set up by the pro basketball star from Louisville, paid for the medals.

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