SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) – Several Tuskegee Airmen were in San Francisco Tuesday night to attend a screening of a documentary that tells the story of the country’s first ever African-American military pilots. More than 400 people crowded into Union Square’s Lorraine Hansberry Theater to hear the men in their own words.

When 84-year-old Harold Hoskins joined the Tuskegee program, right out of high school in 1945, he just wanted to be a pilot.

“I flew with them for 9 months,” he said.

However, the military and the country remained segregated through World War II.

“Some of the fellas were court marshaled for going into an officers,” said Hoskins.

The adversity and triumph of the Tuskegee Airmen is the focus of “Double Victory,” a George Lucas documentary being screened across the country during Black History Month.

KCBS’ Anna Duckworth Reports:

Hoskins, who lives in Danville, and two fellow airmen received a standing ovation at the San Francisco event.

He said that the Tuskegee Airmen were the beginning of the civil rights movement, and what they accomplished was an inspiration to the entire country.

“They saw that the armed forces worked integrated, so why couldn’t the civilian force work? And it did,” asserted Hoskins.

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