A portrait of Lieutenant Colonel Bennett Hardy, one of five Howard County-born Tuskegee Airmen, graces a downtown wall in the newly dedicated “Hometown Heroes” mural in Kokomo. Now the accompanying traveling exhibition “TUSKEGEE AIRMEN: America’s Freedom Flyers” will feature his Congressional Gold Medal, Command Pilot wings and other items as it tours around the country, thanks to a donation from the Hardy Family.

“When we saw pictures of the mural and exhibit, we felt it best to donate to a good cause and also to honor our father and his legacy,” stated LTC Hardy’s son Robert, who recently traveled with his family from New Jersey to visit the tributes in Kokomo and at Grissom Air Museum July 5.

The Congressional Gold Medal was awarded to the Tuskegee Airmen formally on March 29, 2007, by President George W. Bush in Washington, D.C., nearly one year after the death of LTC Hardy. His medal was awarded posthumously to his wife, Betty, on his behalf.

The items will be installed in the “Hometown Heroes” portion of the exhibition in early August.

“TUSKEGEE AIRMEN: America’s Freedom Flyers” is project of the Howard County Memorial Corporation, in partnership with a team which includes Curator and Designer Robin Williams and Tuskegee Airmen Historian Zellie Orr. The exhibition may be viewed at Grissom Air Museum, 1000 W. Hoosier Blvd in Peru, IN now through December 31, 2024.