Person:Robert Glass (8)

  Featured Page: Week of 5 February 2018

Biography

Robert Marshall Glass was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., where he attended public school. He graduated from Carnegie Institute of Technology with a degree in mechanical engineering. Already a qualified pilot, he was one of the highly skilled and committed young men to join the 332nd Fighter Group of the Tuskegee Airmen.

Glass signed up at Tuskegee Army Air Field on 28 January 1943, and attended cadet school at Tuskegee. Charles "Chief" Anderson was one of his flying instructors at Tuskegee and Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., was his commanding officer. Glass flew P-39 Airocobras on escort missions first from North Africa, and then from Sicily for bombing missions in the Mediterrean theater of operations. In 1944, the 332nd FG transitioned to the P-47 Thunderbolt, and before the war's end, they flew P-51 Mustangs. He continued to serve during the Korean conflict.

He was a senior pilot with the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, American Campaign Medal, Distinguished Unit Citation and the National Defense Service medal.

His last duty station was at Wright Air Development Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. At the time of his death in January 1955, Captain Glass was at the Air Command Staff School, Maxwell AFB, Alabama.

His name is inscribed on the Memorial Honor Roll of the Air Force, Air Force Aid Society, Washington, D.C.

Related Media

• Tuskegee Airmen, Wikipedia
• 332nd Fighter Group, Wikipedia
• Tuskegee Airmen-A Salute to The "RED TAILS" in Italy in WWII, Frank Ambrose
• The Tuskegee Airmen: First Group of African-American Fighter Pilots in WW2, Stephen Sherman, AcePilots.com (Feb. 2000)
• The Tuskegee Airmen: The Men Who Changed a Nation, Charles Francis (1997)

Personal effects of Robert Marshall Glass as member of the 332nd Fighter Group

Air Force Tuskegee Airmen Patch

Graduation from Advanced Flying School on October 16, 1944

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Alabama, United States. Alabama Deaths, 1908-1974; Index to Deaths, 1908-1959. (Alabama).
2. ↑ Robert Glass, in Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index: Death Master File, database. (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service)
   1955.

   Robert Glass: Social Security Death Index (SSDI) Death Record
   Name: Robert Glass
   State of Issue: Pennsylvania
   Date of Birth: Thursday December 16, 1920
   Date of Death: January 1955
   Est. Age at Death: 34 years

3. ↑ ^3.0 3.1 Robert Marshall Glass, in NPS Legends of Tuskegee Exhibit
   18 January 2007.

   "Robert Marshall Glass
   Captain, US Air Force
   December 17, 1920 - January 24, 1955
   Already a qualified pilot, Robert Marshall Glass was one of the highly skilled and committed young men to join the 332nd Fighter Group of the Tuskegee Airmen. Glass was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he attended public school. He graduated from Carnegie Institute of Technology with a degree in mechanical engineering. Glass signed up at Tuskegee Army Air Field on January 28, 1943, and attended cadet school at Tuskegee. Charles "Chief" Anderson was one of his flying instructors at Tuskegee and Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., was his commanding officer. Glass served his country in World War II and during the Korean conflict. He was a senior pilot with the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, EAME Campaign medal, American Campaign Medal, Distinguished Unit Citation and the National Defense Service medal. His last duty station was at Wright Air Development Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. At the time of his death, Captain Glass was at the Air Command Staff School, Maxwell Air Force Base. His name is inscribed on the Memorial Honor Roll of the Air Force, Air Force Aid Society, Washington, D.C."

   Portrait of Cadet Robert M. Glass in his Tuskegee Airmen Flight Training flight gear
4. ↑ Robert Marshall Glass, in Extract of Alabama, Deaths and Burials Index, 1881-1974 (Ancestry.com)
   FHL Film Number: 1908896, 2011.

   "Name: Robert Marshall Glass
   Birth Date: abt 1921
   Death Date: 24 Jan 1955
   Death Place: Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama"

   Extract of Alabama Deaths and Burials Index for Robert Glass
5. ↑ Capt. Robert M. Glass, in U.S. Air Force News official website
   4 February 2008.

   "Glass flew P-39 Airocobras on escort missions first from North Africa, and then from Sicily for bombing missions in the Mediterrean theater of operations. In 1944, the 332nd FG transitioned to the P-47 Thunderbolt, and before the war's end, they flew P-51 Mustangs. He continued to serve during the Korean conflict."

6. ↑ ^6.0 6.1 Allegheny, Pennsylvania, United States. 1930 U.S. Census Population Schedule. (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration Publication T626)
   ED 2-384, sheet 23A.

   Living with parents Robert and Lucy. Age given as 6 years.

7. ↑ Robert M. Glass, in Francis, Charles. The Tuskegee Airmen: The Men Who Changed a Nation. (Branden Books, November 1997)
   Pages 427, 444.

   Two by-name citations.