After my parents moved to Hilton Head I started taking a greater interest in South Carolina. Charleston is one of the loveliest cities in the country with 
gracious modern Southern sensibilities. Hilton Head has many things going on beyond the beach, including big city calibre cultural events and a well-established set of volunteer institutions that help address unmet needs of the area population. But I’ve found the politics baffling and frustrating.
We arrived in Hilton Head after the funerals in Charleston of those murdered at Emanuel AME Church and left just before the historic discussions and votes in the South Carolina legislature to remove the Confederate flag from the grounds of the capital in Columbia. At home in the DC area, politics is a three meals a day diet with local, national and international issues vying for constant attention, most with spin-doctors looking for a leg up in the next round. The attack in Charleston was taken as an assault on the entire community and the subsequent responses were equally personal. As the entire nation watched, civic leaders and legislators laid bare family history to argue for or against the removal of the Confederate flag.
As we headed north from Hilton Head en route home, we saw a road sign for the Tuskegee Airmen Monument in Walterboro, SC. Walterboro is a picturesque 200 year old small southern city. I had seen the historic downtown before with its antique shops and discovered the home to the South Carolina Artisan Center. But a monument to the Tuskegee airmen? 
Having always associated these heroic airmen with Alabama, I had to see what it was all about.
During WWII the small local airport became Walterboro Army Airfield. In addition to the monument pictured below, there are several displays documenting the history of the airfield and area during the war. It was a training ground for pilots, and in the latter stages of the war, an advanced training center for 500 Tuskegee airmen. While taking pride in serving as home to the airmen for this training, the materials point out the poor treatment the Tuskegee airman often received once the day’s training was over. 
The local area also housed a German POW center. It was surprising to see the number of visitors within the previous week to this relatively remote testament to history.
I still have problems with many political pronouncements and policies in South Carolina and might not choose to live there. But attitudes can and do change. It is important to know and understand history so that past mistakes are not repeated.
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