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MAJ GEN JOSEPH A. MCNEIL, CHAPTER, TUSKEGEE AIRMEN, INC.
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Major General (Ret) Joseph A. McNeil
Military Career
General McNeil was born in Wilmington, N.C.
He was commissioned as a second lieutenant through the Reserve Officer Training Corps program at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University, Greensboro, N.C. He served on active duty as a KC-135 navigator at Ellsworth AFB, S.D., until 1969. He spent considerable time in Southeast Asia
General McNeil was born in Wilmington, N.C.
He was commissioned as a second lieutenant through the Reserve Officer Training Corps program at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University, Greensboro, N.C. He served on active duty as a KC-135 navigator at Ellsworth AFB, S.D., until 1969. He spent considerable time in Southeast Asia flying Arc Lite support and Young Tiger missions.
As a traditional Reservist, General McNeil developed a civilian management background in corporate finance, investment banking and public services. He has served as assistant division manager of the Federal Aviation Administration's Eastern Region Flight Standards Division and manager of the New York Flight Standards District Office.
EDUCATION
-1963 Bachelor of Science degree in engineering physics, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University, Greensboro
-1984 Air Command and Staff College, by correspondence
-1988 National Defense University, by correspondence
-1991 Honorary Doctor of Philosophy degree in humanities, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University, Greensboro
-1998 Honorary Doctor of Laws degree, St. John's University, Jamaica, N.Y.
ASSIGNMENTS
1. July 1963 - August 1964, student, undergraduate navigator training, James Connally AFB, Texas
2. August 1964 - July 1969, KC-135 navigator, Ellsworth AFB, S.D.
3. January 1972 - April 1989, navigator instructor, flight commander, executive officer and Commander, 702nd Military Airlift Squadron, McGuire AFB, N.J. (January 1974 - June 1989, additional duty as U.S. Air Force Academy liaison officer, Long Island, N.Y.)
4. April 1989 - December 1992, special assistant to the Vice Commander and Commander, 514th Airlift Wing, McGuire AFB, N.J.
5. December 1992 - January 1995, Vice Commander, 22nd Air Force, Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga.
6. January 1995 - August 1995, Commander, 22nd Air Force, Dobbins ARB, Ga.
7. August 1995 - December 2000, mobilization assistant to the Vice Commander, Headquarters Air Force Reserve Command, Robins AFB, Ga.
FLIGHT INFORMATION Rating: Master navigator Flight hours: 6,653 Aircraft flown: C-141B, C-141A and KC-135A
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
-Legion of Merit Meritorious
-Service Medal Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters
-Air Force Commendation Medal
- Air Force Achievement Medal Combat Readiness Medal
-National Defense Service Medal
-Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
-Vietnam Service Medal with silver star
-Southwest Asia Service Medal with bronze star
-Humanitarian Service Medal Air Force
-Longevity Service Award with four oak leaf clusters
-Armed Forces Reserve Medal Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm
-Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION Second Lieutenant June 1, 1963 First Lieutenant Jan. 14, 1965 Captain Dec. 24, 1968 Major June 1, 1977 Lieutenant Colonel June 1, 1984 Colonel April 1, 1989 Brigadier General June 2, 1994 Major General Feb. 29, 1996
The young college student sitting at the far left in the accompanying photo is Joe McNeil.
At about 4:30 in the afternoon on Monday, Feb.1, 1960, McNeil and three of his buddies sat down at the lunch counter at the Woolworth's in downtown Greensboro, N.C., and asked the waitress for a cup of coffee. "We don't serve Negroes here," she said
The young college student sitting at the far left in the accompanying photo is Joe McNeil.
At about 4:30 in the afternoon on Monday, Feb.1, 1960, McNeil and three of his buddies sat down at the lunch counter at the Woolworth's in downtown Greensboro, N.C., and asked the waitress for a cup of coffee. "We don't serve Negroes here," she said before asking them to move down to the standup snack bar at one end of the long L-shaped counter. As everyone at the time knew, the seats were for whites. The snack bar was for blacks.
The four young men didn't move. In fact, they stayed in their seats until after the Woolworth's closed for the day. Then they came back the next day. ... and the next ... and the next ... and the next. On Feb. 2, the "Greensboro Four" were joined in their protest by 23 men and four women. The next day, the number of protesters swelled to 80. By the fourth day, there were 300 people gathered around the "whites only" Woolworth lunch counter, vowing to return every day until they were served.
As word of what these brave young men had done spread, so did the movement they had started. Soon, there were protests at lunch counters in 54 cities in nine states. The Greensboro sit-ins continued for five months until the F.W. Woolworth Co. finally agreed to integrate its lunch counters.
With a simple act of courage, Joe McNeil had helped spark the civil rights movement in the United States. He is an American hero for what he did at that North Carolina lunch counter, but he is also a hero for volunteering to put his life on the line for a country that once treated him as a second-class citizen.
After graduating from North Carolina A&T State University in 1963, McNeil was commissioned in the Air Force and became a navigator on the KC-135 Stratotanker air refueling/cargo aircraft. He served valiantly during the Vietnam War and joined the Air Force Reserve in 1969. He proudly served in the Reserve for 31 years, retiring as the mobilization assistant to the Air Force Reserve Command commander with the rank of Major General in 2000.
A True American Hero
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