Joseph W. Sparks
Unit: 617th Bombardment Squadron of the 477^th Composite Group

This text is taken from the Honorable Discharge document sent to us from Joseph W. Sparks

HONORABLE DISCHARGE

State of Illinois

Ninety-Four General Assembly

House of Representatives

House Resolution No. 240

Offered by Representative Milton Patterson

WHEREAS, During WWII, Joseph W. Sparks answered the call of his country and valiantly served as a member of the 477^th Composite Group based at Godman Field, Kentucky; the 477^th Composite Group, the first all-Black Bomber-Fighter air squadron in U.S. history, had four squadrons of bomber and fighter airplanes; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Sparks graduated with the first class of African-Americans to be qualified as aerial radio operators at Scott Field Air Base in 1944; he was also in the first class of African-Americans to graduate from aerial gunnery school at the Yuma Arizona Air Force Base in 1944; and

WHEREAS, He went on training flights as a radio operator with First Lieutenant Daniel James Jr. as a member of the 617th Bombardment Squadron at Godman Field, Kentucky, in 1944; Lieutenant James went on to become the first African-American four-star general; he also served with James Y. Carter who went on to serve in the Illinois General Assembly and was Vehicle Commissioner for the City of Chicago, Winston A. Adkins, a police sergeant at 51^st and Wentworth in Chicago, A.A. Rayner, a former Chicago alderman and funeral director, and Charles C. Diggs, who became a U.S. Congressman from Michigan; and

WHEREAS, As a radio operator mechanic, Sergeant Sparks operated airborne transmitting and receiving equipment; he sent and received messages using Morse code; he performed in-flight maintenance on equipment and tune adjusted his own equipment; he operated at a rate of 20 words per minute; he also had two 50-caliber machine guns to operate, one on each side of the B-25 bomber; and

WHEREAS, The squadron was initially named the 477th Bombardment Group; the name was changed in June of 1945 to the 477^th Composite Group, when the leadership of the group was handed over to the General B.O. Davis, Jr. It was the first and only U.S. Army installation within the continental U.S. to be commanded and staffed completely be African-American personnel; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Sparks went on to work with the Chicago Transit Authority and was honored for 31 years of public service as a bus driver and for his volunteer work in the Englewood Community as Chairman of the 7^th Police District Youth Corps; he drove streetcar #7213 Chicago’s last streetcar during the mid-1950’s; therefore, be it

RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we honor Joseph W. Sparks for his service as a member of the 477^th Composite Group during World War II, for his many years of public and community service, and for his efforts to educate Americans on the 477^th Composite Group; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Mr. Sparks as an expression of our sincerest respect and esteem.

Adopted by the House of Representatives on April 5, 2005.

Signed by Michael J. Madigan, Speaker of the House

*Note: The 617th Bombardment Squadron was one of four Tuskegee Airmen bomber squadrons during WWII that made up the 477^th Composite Group. The 477^th Composite Group and its assigned 616th, 617th, 618th, and 619th Bombardment Squadrons, never deployed overseas for combat during World War II.

In 2007, the 477^th Composite Group became the 477th Fighter Group, bringing with it the legacy of Tuskegee Airmen to Alaska.

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