Tuskegee Airman Calvin Spann, an NJ hero, dies

First Lt. Calvin Jack Spann — a Rutherford Native and one of the original Tuskegee Airmen — has died.

"On Sunday, Sept. 6, 2015, 1st Lt. Calvin J. Spann received his wings from his Lord and Savior to commence to eternal life in Heaven," reads his obituary. He was 90.

Spann was a  fighter pilot with the 100th Fighter Squadron of the 332nd Fighter Group. He received his wings from the Tuskegee Flight School as a part of the graduating class of 44G.

As a member of the United States Army Air Corps, he served in Europe during World War II, where he flew 26 combat missions before the end of the war.

As one of the Tuskegee Airmen, Spann overcame racism to fight combat missions.

Spann is a 2007 recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal — like the rest of the black Tuskegee Airmen, who fought combat missions and escorted bombers across Europe, defying racisms

In a 2012 interview with NorthJersey.com, he said that despite the accolades the Airmen earned in the war, they came home to the same systemic racism other blacks faced.

"We never got jobs (or) positions in life that were equal to the struggle," he said at the time.

He was honored earlier this year by the African-American Diversity Network and American Airlines: