Phase two of the Sumter Veterans Park project was officially completed on Monday when city, county and state officials attended a ribbon-cutting under the P-51 Mustang Red Tail airplane at the park. The plane, phase one of the project, was installed in 2024.
Both the aircraft and Monday’s addition, a statue of a Tuskegee airman, honor the group’s service and the four Sumter men who served as part of the “Tuskegee Experience,” the first African-American military aviators in the United States Armed Forces during World War II: Willie Lee Ashley, Leroy Bowman, James Philip Rembert and Emmett Rice.
Surrounding the statue are “story walls” that, in addition to providing more information about the four men from Sumter, display the names of Tuskegee veterans from across South Carolina.
This project was approved by Sumter City Council in 2025 for $152,165, per previous Item reporting. The project was paid for by an Undiscovered grant from the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.
Local officials present for the ribbon-cutting included Sumter Mayor David Merchant, Mayor Pro Tempore James Blassingame, Sumter City Council member Lynn Kennedy, state Sen. Jeff Zell, state Rep. David Weeks and state Speaker of the House Murrell Smith, among others.
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