Alumnus Herman “Ace” Lawson liked to show his children the scar on his leg where the Germans shot him through his plane.

Honored in the Unsung Heroes exhibit, Lawson was a Tuskegee Airmen — one of the first African American pilots in the country flying during World War II.

Lawson attended Fresno State in the late 1930s, where he met his wife, Pearl Lee Johnson (alumna). They were two of three African American students at Fresno State at the time. Johnson studied to become a teacher. Lawson was a photographer and a football player, the first African American to play four years of football at Fresno State. It was also during his time at Fresno State that Lawson decided he wanted to be a pilot in the Army Air Corps.

See more.