They were called Red Tailed Black Angels by the bomber crews because they never lost a single plane to German fighters while they were on escort duty.

They also saw action in North Africa, Sicily and southern France before the war was over.

But when they came home again, they had to sit in the back of the bus.

Lt. Col. Charles W. Dryden is one of the few remaining members of the famed World War II Tuskegee Airmen.

He will tell their story — and his own — Friday at 1 p.m. at the Hefner V.A. Medical Center.

Known as an eloquent speaker, Lt. Colonel Dryden will talk about being a black career officer through two wars and the attainment and transition from segregation to integration in the U.S. Air Force and American society.

The program will take place in the social room of Building 6. He will also sign copies of his book, “A Train — Memoirs of a Tuskegee Airman,” following his talk and again on Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon at Bookmasters in the Ketner Center.

He will also be honored at a reception at the Kannapolis Library Saturday afternoon from 1 to 3, where Beth Young of Salisbury is librarian.

“It’s just phenomenal that we’re getting him, a once-in-a-lifetime thing,” says Maria Hall, a member of the Black History Special Emphasis committee. “We’ll never have the opportunity to sit in the presence of a Tuskegee Airman again,” says Maria Hall, a member of the Black History Special Emphasis committee.

Ken Carroll, also a committee member and program manager for Black History Month, arranged for his appearance despite the fact that other members of the committee thought it would be impossible to get a Tuskegee airman.

The book is an autobiography about a man who was among the 450 black fighter pilots under the command of Colonel Benjamin O. Davis Jr., who later became the Air Force’s first black lieutenant general. A command pilot, he flew more than 4,000 hours.

The program, sponsored by the Black History Special Emphasis Program, is open to the public.

The program will also include a ceremony by various World War II veterans, who will present the colors while the Competition Color Guard from East, West, and North Rowan high schools will participate in the procession.