A 100-year-old retired Tuskegee Airman and his great-grandson, an aspiring Air Force Academy cadet, were lauded by President Donald Trump during his State of the Union address on Tuesday.
Trump pointed to Iain Lanphier, a 13-year-old from Arizona studying at an aviation academy, as a potential recruit for the new Space Force.
“As Iain says, ‘most people look up at space, I want to look down on the world,'” Trump said as he gestured toward the eighth grader.
Sitting next to Lanphier was his great-grandfather, Charles McGee, one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen — the first group of African-American fighter pilots, who served in World War II.
After serving more than 130 combat missions, McGee, “came back to a country still struggling for Civil Rights and went on to serve America in Korea and Vietnam,” Trump said.
McGee, who celebrated his 100th birthday on Dec. 7, was promoted to brigadier general by the president a few weeks ago.
“General McGee: Our Nation salutes you,” Trump said.