War/action movie based on fact. The Tuskegee, Alabama army airfield was where the first "colored" army fighter pilots were headquartered. Hannibel "Iowa" Lee Jr., played by Fishburne, and his fellow African-American airmen are trained to impossibly high standards only to face racist resistance to their being given combat assignments. After First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt helped to publicize their plight, the airmen were ordered into combat in Europe where, as members of the "Fighting 99th" squadron of the 332nd Fighter Group, they achieved glory by performing with extraordinary skill and bravery.