TWINSBURG, Ohio — Asa Newman, who was one of the last serving Tuskegee Airmen, has died at 102, according to his niece, Maurice Newman.
Born in Cleveland on Sept. 24, 1918, Newman was one of the original Tuskegee Airmen‚ the first African-American unit to fly combat airplanes in World War II. He graduated from East High in 1936 and moved to Chicago in 1939 to attend college.
A member of the 99th Pursuit Squadron, he served in North Africa, Sicily and Italy during WWII.
After the war, he worked for the IRS, as well as the University of Chicago, where he became chief operator of a cyclotron, working in nuclear research.
He was one of seven children, with three brothers and three sisters. He is the last survivor of his immediate family.
Memorial Services will be held at Crown Hill Mausoleum, located at 8592 Darrow Road, in Twinsburg on Friday, June 11 at 1 p.m.
In September 2020, News 5 Cleveland was there as the community and his family celebrated his 102nd birthday.
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