17/08/2025
to all our sons, brothers, cousins, fathers, uncles, and friends in uniform | NEGRO DIGEST ™ The Only Magazine for Black Men In America
Ralph Orduna was born in 1920 in Omaha, NE. Several months before the bombing of , he began working at the Martin Bomber Plant and would become its youngest supervisor, helping to build the B-26, a medium bomber, and later the heavy bomber the B-29.
In 1941, with the help of a family friend who was an Army NCO and the tenacity of his father, Orduna was able to break through discrimination and enlist in the Army Air Corps.
After Orduna graduated from the Tuskegee Flying School, he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant and was stationed at Ramitelli, Italy with the 301st Fighter Squadron of the 332nd Fighter Group. The 332nd was the Army’s first all Black fighting force.
Orduna flew 18 missions in the P-51 Mustang. He escorted American bombers on missions and also conducted reconnaissance flights over enemy territory. For his efforts he earned the Air Medal with two oak leaf clusters.
After his service to his country, Orduna earned a commercial pilot’s license but was unable to use it due to discriminatory practices of commercial airlines at that time. His experiences reflect the frustration many Black Veterans felt as they tried to acclimate to a post-war America that refused to recognize their abilities simply because of race.
Learn more: https://cafriseabove.org/ralph-orduna/