John Steward Sloan
Military
Object Number - UPL 25023 - 1LT John Steward Sloan Fighter Pilot 332nd FG - 99th FS - 15th AF
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Twelfth Air Force Fifteenth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Twelfth Air Force Fifteenth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
Louisville, KY, USA | 26 September 1918 | |
|
Other Graduated Pilot Training/Commissioned |
Tuskegee, AL, USA | 30 June 1943 | Class 43-F-SE |
|
Other Shot Down/Wounded |
Monte Cassino, 03043 Cassino, Province of Frosinone, Italy | 30 March 1944 | On March 30, 1944, while returning from a combat mission with the country's first black fighter squadron, Mr. Sloan was shot down over Italy after he crossed into Allied territory. Gunfire from the ground during the second battle of Monte Cassino set Mr. Sloan's plane aflame and shrapnel ripped into his left leg. Before he parachuted to safety, Mr. Sloan quickly took steps to save his bleeding leg. "First thing I had to do was put a tourniquet on my thigh," Mr. Sloan told the Tribune in 1999. "As the Lord would have it, that day I was wearing my white silk scarf. This was one my wife had given me and I made a point of not wearing it every time I went up, so I wouldn't have that symbol as being necessary to fly. But I had decided that day to wear it." |
|
Died |
Chicago, IL, USA | 28 December 2000 | John Steward Sloan was a decorated Tuskegee Airman, a private pilot, an author, a journalist, and the first African American personnel counselor at Inland Steel Company in Chicago. Sloan was born in Louisville, KY, the son of Abram and Patsie Sloan. He was a history and sociology graduate of Kentucky State University. He was a journalist with the Kentucky Reporter newspaper. During WWII, Sloan was a pilot with the 32nd Fighter Group of the 99th Fighter Squadron, the first Black fighter squadron in the U.S. His plane was shot down over Monte Cassino, Italy in 1944; Sloan suffered a fractured thigh when he was hit by shrapnel. He managed to bail out of the plane and survived. Sloan received a Purple Heart and an Honorable Discharge. He returned to Kentucky for a brief period before he and his wife, Wilhelmina Carson Sloan, moved to Chicago, IL, where John Sloan was employed at the Inland Steel Company. Prior to his retirement from the company in 1978, Sloan had advanced to become a corporate finance manager. He was also a private pilot and had worked as a radio DJ. Sloan was a member of the Chicago Urban League. He is the author of two books: The Game Plan for Handicapping Harness Races (1975) and Survival! a Purple Heart Tuskegee Airman (2000). John Steward Sloan died December 28, 2001 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. For more see John Steward Sloan in "Interesting People," Chicago Metro News, 08/04/1979, p.9; E. Smith, "Lt. John S. Sloan shot down over Italy," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 09/26/2009; and R. E. Igoe, "John Sloan, Sr., Inland Exec, Tuskegee Airman," Chicago Tribune, 01/05/2001, Obituaries section, p.8. Subjects: Authors, Aviators, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Migration North, Military & Veterans, Radio Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Chicago, Illinois (bio by: pm) |
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Buried |
26 March 2001 | Plot: Sec: 39, Site: 589 |
Revisions
Contributorjmoore43
Sources
Removed extra info from Description section for the Buried event.
Contributor466thHistorian
