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Just think about what that must have been like for those young men.
試想一下那些年輕人的經(jīng)歷。
Here they were, trained to operate some of the most complicated, high-tech machines of their day
他們在這里接受訓(xùn)練操作當(dāng)時最復(fù)雜的高科技飛機(jī)，
flying at hundreds of miles an hour, with the tips of their wings just six inches apart.
這些飛機(jī)機(jī)翼的尖端相距只有六英寸，但卻以每小時數(shù)百英里的速度飛行。
Yet when they hit the ground, folks treated them like they were nobody -- as if their very existence meant nothing.
然而，當(dāng)他們落地時，人們對待他們像對空氣一樣，仿佛他們的存在沒有任何意義。
Now, those Airmen could easily have let that experience clip their wings.
如今，這些飛行員并沒有因那些不公平待遇而放棄。
But as you all know, instead of being defined by the discrimination and the doubts of those around them,
正如大家所知，他們不僅沒有被周遭的歧視和懷疑束縛，
they became one of the most successful pursuit squadrons in our military.
而且成為空軍中最成功的追擊中隊。
They went on to show the world that if black folks and white folks could fight together, and fly together,
他們不斷向世界證明:如果黑人和白人可以一起戰(zhàn)斗，一起飛行，
then surely -- surely -- they could eat at a lunch counter together.
那么，有一點也可以確定，他們能夠共進(jìn)午餐。
Surely their kids could go to school together.
當(dāng)然，他們的孩子也可以一起上學(xué)。
You see, those Airmen always understood that they had a "double duty"
這些飛行員始終明白，他們肩負(fù)著雙重責(zé)任，
one to their country and another to all the black folks who were counting on them to pave the way forward.
一方面是國家的使命，另一方面是對倚仗他們鋪平前進(jìn)道路的黑人種族的責(zé)任。
So for those Airmen, the act of flying itself was a symbol of liberation for themselves and for all African Americans.
因此，對于這些飛行員而言，飛行本身就是解放的象征，為自己也為所有非裔美國人。
One of those first pilots, a man named Charles DeBow, put it this way.
查爾斯·德鮑是首批黑人飛行員之一。
He said that a takeoff was -- in his words -- "a never-failing miracle"
他說過，起飛是一個“永不失敗的奇跡”，
where all "the bumps would smooth off in the air out of this world free."
世間所有的沖突都在九霄云外得以化解。
