EUGENE–Three members of the famous World War II African-American Tuskegee aviation team will speak to a University of Oregon Freshman Seminar at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 16, in Room 128, Chiles Business Center, 925 E. 13th Ave.

Former World War II pilots Jim Wiley, Bill Holloman and Ed Drummond, all members of the Tuskegee Experiment, which marked the first opportunity offered black Americans to train and serve as pilots, will discuss their experiences and the historical role of African-Americans in aviation.

The Freshman Seminar, "Come Fly With Me: Exploring the Heritage of Flight," is taught by Bill Lamon, UO associate professor emeritus. Freshman Seminars, small-class sessions taught by veteran faculty, provide first-year students with opportunities for indepth studies on a variety of topics. Freshmen may choose from among nearly 200 seminar offerings each year.

Lamon, who has a lifelong love of flying, joined the Belgian Air Force in 1957 as a reserve officer cadet and received university and flight training in Canada as the recipient of both a NATO and two Belgian Aeronautical/Air Force Association grants.

In 1967 he left the Belgian Air Force Reserve and completed his doctoral studies in mathematics education at the University of California, Berkeley. He taught first at the University of California, Santa Barbara, before joining the UO education faculty in 1972. He became special assistant to the vice provost for academic affairs in 1992 and retired in 1998.

Lamon still flies. He is a rated search and rescue command pilot in the Civil Air Patrol. He also owns, flies and maintains, in its original condition, an ex RCAF Harvard 20436 in its authentic Royal Canadian Air Force colors. The aircraft is part of the recently formed "Canadian Air Force Heritage Flight."

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