Long Island Philharmonic salutes Tuskegee Airmen

Saturday night's annual Islip Arts Council concert in the park, featuring the Long Island Philharmonic, remains an all-services "Salute to the Armed Forces." But thanks to a Bayport composer and amateur historian, the evening will shine a spotlight on the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II.

Reynard Burns, a retired music teacher in the Bay Shore schools, created a new arrangement of Nat King Cole's "Straighten Up and Fly Right," the unofficial anthem of the historic African-American squadron that was based in Tuskegee, Ala. No African-American had served as an armed forces pilot before Tuskegee formed in 1941, months before the United States entered the war after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Attached to the Army Air Corps (later renamed the U.S. Air Force), the squadron flew its first combat missions in 1943 over North Africa and Italy. That same year, Cole recorded "Straighten Up."

Like other surviving World War II veterans, the Tuskegee Airmen are in their 80s and 90s. Three members of the Claude B. Govan Tri-State Chapter, one of 55 nationally, will attend the concert: Dabney Montgomery of the Bronx and Julius Freeman and Clayton Lawrence, both of Springfield Gardens, Queens.

Inspired by the dozen or so former airmen in the chapter, which includes family members and others, like himself, who've become Tuskegee supporters, Burns is writing some original music in their honor. "They may be old, but they're sharp as tacks," he says, "and very forward-looking about education and raising money for scholarships. So I wanted to write a piece for them. But I put it aside to do this rearrangement. I'll get back to it now."

Fireworks by Grucci follow the concert. A portion of funds raised by concert sponsors, including Bethpage Federal Credit Union, will be distributed through United Way to military families in need.