Dec. 8 (UPI) -- One of the surviving members of the Tuskegee Airmen, an all-black squadron of aviators during World War II, was found dead at age 100 in his New York City apartment Saturday, police said.
A home health aide discovered Wilfred Defour on the floor of his Harlem bathroom. Officials believe his death to be by natural causes, but an autopsy has been scheduled to determine an official cause.
Defour served as an aircraft technician as part of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first group of African-American aviators in the U.S. armed forces. The group got its name for their training facility at Tuskegee Army Airfield in Macon County, Ala.
The New York Daily News reported that Defour was the one responsible for painting the tails of the aircraft red, from which the squadron got its nickname -- the Red Tails.
