On the third floor of the Silver Spring library that bears his name, Brigadier General Charles McGee was honored posthumously with a memorial honoring his military service as well as his work to mentor young people and reduce barriers.
McGee was one of the original Tuskegee Airmen and flew 409 combat missions during World War II and the Korean and Viet Nam wars. He lived his later years in Bethesda.
He was honored Thursday not just by the Distinguished Flying Cross Society that created the stone monument but also by his daughter, members of the military and federal and county legislators. The Distinguished Flying Cross Society is a nonprofit organization whose “mission is to honor, preserve and teach the legacy of heroes” involved in flight.
The Distinguished Flying Cross Society is dedicating a permanent, freestanding monument Thursday inside the library Silver Spring that is named in his memory. @mymcmedia pic.twitter.com/3VoEF7nZkw
— suzanne pollak (@SuzannePollak) December 5, 2024
Council Vice President Will Jawando proposed the idea to honor McGee at the library on Wayne Avenue in downtown Silver Spring. Four years later, the library bears his name as well as a display with the monument, photos of himself and his plane and books about his life.
“When I first shook hands with him, I was struck with the realization that these were the same hands that piloted 409 missions,” Jawando said. McGee, who died two years ago at the age of 102, “chose to fight for our country and make that country better,” he said.
McGee joined the Army Air Force, which was then segregated, and served well enough to earn multiple medals, including the Bronze Star and the Congressional Gold Medal.
He returned home from World War 2 to a country that didn’t think he was an equal.
Retired U.S. Air Force General Ronald Fogleman called McGee “a true American hero.”
In a video, U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen said, “Charles McGee was one of the greatest airmen of all times,” adding, “General McGee didn’t just break records. He broke barriers…General McGee is a national hero.”
Yvonne McGee, his youngest daughter, recalled complaining many years ago, and her father just looked at her and said, “Was anybody trying to shoot you out of the sky?”
In his later years, McGee challenged young people to do their best, and when they told him they didn’t know what to do, he told them to go to the library and read a book.
Executive Marc Elrich added, “He was so much more than the military stuff,” explaining how he urged everyone young person he met to read.
Councilmember Kristin Mink praised McGee’s “vision of lifelong learning for all.” She also spoke of life during the Jim Crow Era, noting, “It’s never been more important to keep that front and center.”
