Class 44-G-SE 8/4/1944 Flt. Officer T64640 New York, NY
May 17, 1925 – July 4, 2006
Maury M. Reid, Jr. was born May 17, 1925, in Harlem Hospital in New York City. He went into the Army Air Forces to train as a fighter pilot at Tuskegee, Alabama in 1943. Injuries that Reid suffered when his plane crashed during a test flight prevented him from flying overseas missions during the war. He spent months in the hospital after a test flight just before he was supposed to leave for Europe ended in a crash and suffered spinal pain for the rest of his life.
After the war, he unsuccessfully tried to get a commercial flying job.
He worked with the New York City Transit Authority, beginning as a railroad clerk and holding many different positions, including collection agent and trainmaster. His career spanned 38 years. He has his undergraduate and graduate degrees from New York University. He was an instructor and coordinator in the Transit Authority training school program and retired as the director of labor contract administration.
He participated in ASALH, the Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity Gamma XI Boule, was a life member of the NAACP and the Tuskegee Airmen Inc. He remained active as a Tuskegee alumnus, speaking about the program at museums, schools and churches. He also appeared in “Silver Wings and Civil Rights,” a 2004 documentary about the Tuskegee Airmen.
Sources:
The CAF Red Tail Squadron is a volunteer-driven organization dedicated to educating audiences across the country about the history and legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen, America’s first black military pilots and their support personnel.
