Willie E. Jenkins, WWII Tuskegee Airman and retired Florida A&M administrator, dies at 85

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WWII Tuskegee Airman, FAMU dean Jenkins dies at 85

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A retired university administrator who attended the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama as one of the surviving members of the famed Tuskegee Airmen has died. Willie E. Jenkins was 85.

Retired Florida A&M vice president Eddie Jackson said Jenkins died Tuesday. Jenkins served as FAMU’s dean of university relations between 1968 and 1986. He was presented the Congressional Gold Medal by President George W. Bush in 2007.

A parachute rigger for the all-black contingent of 1,000 pilots and 15,000 ground crew who trained in Tuskegee, Ala., Jenkins retired from the Army with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He served as a company commander during the Korean conflict when the military was beginning to embrace integration.