Decorated Tuskegee Airman James Harvey star of Pittsburgh's Juneteenth parade

Saturday’s Juneteenth parade in Pittsburgh included all of the usual features that highlight a parade — marching bands, music, police cars, horses and candy thrown to kids.

But on this day, one individual in particular outshined all other trappings of the event.

Former Tuskegee Airman Lt. Col. James H. Harvey of Colorado, who turns 100 next month, starred as the parade’s grand marshal. The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African American soldiers to successfully complete their training and enter the Army Air Corps, as the U.S. Air Force was then known. They were trained at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama, which is how they got the name Tuskegee Airmen.

“It means a lot, really,” Harvey said. “I never expected to be a part of anything like this, and here I am today. This is nice.”

He was sitting in an ornate white horse-drawn carriage, which he rode in near the front of the parade with his daughter, Kathy.

The history behind Juneteenth goes back to June 19, 1865, when Union Gen. Gordon Granger read the Emancipation Proclamation in Galveston, Texas, informing America’s last former slaves of their freedom.

Harvey, a native of Nuangola Station in Northeastern Pennsylvania, has quite a history of his own. He attempted to enlist in the Army Air Corps during World War II in January 1943 but was turned down because he was Black. A few months later, Harvey was drafted and assigned to the Army Air Corps as an engineer. Eager to serve his country as a fighter pilot, he graduated from the Tuskegee Flight Program, receiving his wings and a commission as a Second Lieutenant Flying Officer.

World War II ended before Harvey saw any action. But he eventually became known as the first African American USAF jet fighter combat pilot to fight in the Korean War. In an interview with the Tribune-Review, he said he held no resentment over initially being rejected by the U.S. military.

“I didn’t think about that stuff. I thought about what I wanted to do,” Harvey said. “I was a perfectionist, and perfectionists can do anything. So, I thought, ‘I can do this,’ and I did, no problem. I applied for cadet training. I was accepted. Ten of us went to take the exam, and two of us passed. I was the only person of color in the group.”

Harvey drew quite a bit of applause as the parade made its way Downtown. The parade route began on Freedom Corner in Pittsburgh’s Hill District before turning right onto Centre Avenue, left onto Sixth Avenue, right onto Fifth Avenue and left on Liberty Avenue, before concluding at Commonwealth Place.

Mayor on hand

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey walked in the parade and said it was important to celebrate Juneteenth because it is a second Independence Day.

“To be able to celebrate everybody’s independence means something,” Gainey said. “It means freedom, it means unity, it means the ability to come together. We’re celebrating one America with multiple cultures. We want to make this a welcoming city. In order to do that, we have to celebrate everybody’s culture. And as long as we celebrate each other, we learn love, we learn respect, understanding and tolerance.”

As part of the cultural celebration, Pittsburgh actor and playwright Wali Jamal marched in the parade as Pittsburgh’s first known Black doctor Martin Delany. Jamal was dressed in full dark blue Civil War regalia complete with sword and silk red sash as Delany, who became the first African-American field grade officer in the U.S. Army.

Jamal, 61, Pittsburgh, said he didn’t think he would see an official Juneteenth parade like this in his lifetime.

“I did not anticipate it. Never. But, I’m so glad that it’s here.”

A number of fraternities and sororities marched in the parade as well including Alpha Kappa Alpha.

“I am so pleased that Pittsburgh realizes the importance of this so that we could have the celebration here,” Alpha Kappa Alpha, Alpha Alpha Omega Chapter president Emma Lucas-Darvy said.

“I feel pride.”