Edward C. Gleed

{{Short description|US Army Air Force officer with Buffalo Soldiers (1916–1990)}}

File:Tuskegee Airman Edward Gleed with his P-51.jpg

Edward Creston Gleed (November 5, 1916 – January 25, 1990) was an U.S. Army Air Force officer with the famed Buffalo Soldiers/9th Cavalry Regiment (United States), 332nd Fighter Group’s operations officer, and combat fighter pilot with the 99th Fighter Squadron, best known as the Tuskegee Airmen.{{Cite web |date=2021-06-22 |title=Edward Creston Gleed |url=https://cafriseabove.org/edward-creston-gleed/ |access-date=2023-09-06 |website=CAF RISE ABOVE |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Edward C. Gleed Flying Jacket |url=https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/196715/edward-c-gleed-flying-jacket/https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/196715/edward-c-gleed-flying-jacket/ |access-date=2023-09-06 |website=National Museum of the United States Air Force™ |language=en-US}}{{dead link|date=March 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Jae |date=2022-05-19 |title=Edward Creston Gleed: Buffalo Soldier to Tuskegee Airman |url=https://blackthen.com/edward-creston-gleed-buffalo-soldier-tuskegee-airman/blackthen.com/edward-creston-gleed-buffalo-soldier-tuskegee-airman/ |access-date=2023-09-06 |website=Black Then |language=en-US}} He was one of the more prominent members of Tuskegee Airmen's ninth-ever aviation cadet program, as well as one of 1,007 documented Tuskegee Airmen Pilots.{{cite web |title=Tuskegee Airmen Pilot Roster |url=https://cafriseabove.org/the-tuskegee-airmen/tuskegee-airmen-pilot-roster/ |website=CAF Rise Above |access-date=11 August 2020}} His classmates included Robert B. Tresville (May 9, 1921 – June 24, 1944), West Point's seventh African American graduate and the 100th Fighter Squadron's Commanding Officer.{{cite book|last=Stentiford|first=Barry M.|title=Tuskegee Airmen|year=2012|publisher=ABC-CLIO|location=Santa Barbara, California|isbn=978-0-313-38684-8|oclc=750173825|pages=86–87,149}}{{cite book|last=Francis|first=Charles E.|title=The Tuskegee Airmen: The Men who Changed a Nation|year=1997|publisher=Branden Publishing Co.|location=Boston, Massachusetts|isbn=0-8283-2029-2|oclc=1036905711|page=[https://archive.org/details/tuskegeeairmenme00char/page/315 315]|editor=Caso, Adolph|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/tuskegeeairmenme00char}}

Gleed is well known for his P-51D Mustang aircraft, "The Creamer's Dream", which has been the subject of several famous, widely distributed photographs.{{Cite web |title=Tuskegee Airmen Virtual Museum Exhibit, National Park Service Museum Management Program |url=https://www.nps.gov/museum/exhibits/tuskegee_airmen/planes_pilots/LC-F9-02-4503-330-11.CreamersDream.html |access-date=2023-09-06 |website=www.nps.gov}}

Early life, family, ties to First Lady Martha Washington, Robert E. Lee

Gleed was born on November 5, 1916, in Lawrence, Kansas. He was the son of Herbert J. Gleed Sr. (1885–1965) and Carrie Syphax Joseph Gleed (1888–1943), a former home economics professor at Tuskegee Institute and scion of the powerful Syphax family, one of the most elite African-American families during the 19th century.{{cite news|url=https://www.whitehousehistory.org/galleries/nancy-syphax-life-and-legacycolonel-edward-creston-gleed|title=Nancy Syphax–Life and Legacy: Colonel Edward Creston Gleed|newspaper=Whha (En-Us) |publisher=The White House Historical Association|accessdate=19 September 2021}}{{Cite web |date=1885-12-20 |title=Herbert joseph gleed, Sr. |url=https://www.geni.com/people/Herbert-gleed-Sr/6000000000118820112 |access-date=2023-09-06 |website=geni_family_tree |language=en-US}}

Gleed's mother Carrie was the grandchild of Nancy Syphax, granddaughter of Maria Carter Syphax. Maria was the mullato daughter of George Washington Parke Custis, First Lady of the United States Martha Washington's grandson.{{cite web|url=https://www.whitehousehistory.org/nancy-syphax-life-and-legacy|title=Nancy Syphax – Life and Legacy – an enslaved resident of the historic decatur house|publisher=The White House Historical Association|accessdate=19 September 2021}} Maria Carter Syphax's white half-sister through George, Mary Custis, was the wife of Confederate General and Washington and Lee President, Robert E. Lee.

Gleed had one sibling, older brother Herbert Joseph Gleed, Jr. (1915–2006).Geni. "Herbert joseph gleed, Jr." https://www.geni.com/people/Herbert-Gleed-Jr/6000000000118616397W6FQ – September 7, 2006. "Herbert J. Gleed Jr, Los Angeles, CA, QCWA # 2511, Chapter 120. https://qcwa.org/w6fq-02511-sk.htm

After attending high school in Lawrence, Gleed attended and graduated from the University of Kansas. He also attended Howard University School of Law before departing for the U.S. Army Air Corps.

He was married to Lucille Elbertha Graves Gleed (1917–2004). They had three daughters: Elizabeth Gleed Ingersoll, Elaine Gleed Williams, and Carol Gleed Weaver.{{Cite web |title=Lucille Gleed Obituary (2004) – Los Angeles, CA – Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/latimes/name/lucille-gleed-obituary?id=27421898 |access-date=2023-09-06 |website=Legacy.com}}

Military career, Buffalo Soldier, Tuskegee Airmen

On February 8, 1941, Gleed enlisted in the U.S. Army's famed Buffalo Soldiers/9th Cavalry Regiment (United States) at Fort Riley, Kansas where he briefly served in military intelligence.The American Air Museum in Britain. "Edward Creston Gleed." http://www.americanairmuseum.com/person/241759 In 1942, the U.S. Army Air Corps reassigned Gleed to Tuskegee, Alabama where he entered the Tuskegee Flight School's aviation cadet program. On December 13, 1942, Gleed graduated as a member of the Single Engine Section Cadet Class SE-42-K, receiving his wings and commission as a 2nd Lieutenant, service number 0-794598.CAF Rise Above. "Tuskegee Airmen Pilot Roster." https://cafriseabove.org/the-tuskegee-airmen/tuskegee-airmen-pilot-roster/ . This data derives from CAF Rise Above's research project compiling data from Tuskegee Airmen historians including the Air Force Historical Research Agency. His classmates included Robert B. Tresville (May 9, 1921 – June 24, 1944), West Point's seventh African American graduate and the 100th Fighter Squadron's Commanding Officer.

The U.S. Army Air Corps assigned Gleed to the 332nd Fighter Group, where he became its Operations Officer as well as the Squadron Commander for its 301st Fighter Squadron.CAF Rise Above. National Park Service, Museum Management Program

Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site. "Edward Creston Gleed."https://cafriseabove.org/edward-creston-gleed/ He also served in leadership in the 477th Bombardier Group.

On July 27, 1944, Gleed earned two official kills after shooting down two enemy German Focke-Wulf Fw 190 during a German armament plant strafing mission near Budapest, Hungary.The Tuskegee Airmen: An Illustrated History, 1939–1949. Joseph Caver, Jerome A. Ennels, Daniel Lee Haulman. 2011. Publisher: New South Books. ISBN 9781588382443, 1588382443. Page 177. https://books.google.com/books?id=1qC51h8HrWQC&dq=edward+c+gleed&pg=PA177 For his heroics, the U.S. Army Air Corps awarded Gleed the Distinguished Flying Cross. He flew numerous bomber escort, patrol and strafing missions where he and his squadron destroyed bridges, oil refineries, supply dumps, and grounded aircraft. He is well known for his P-51D Mustang aircraft "The Creamer's Dream", which has been the subject of several famous, widely distributed photographs.

After World War II, Gleed served in both the Korean War and the Vietnam War. In 1947, the 332nd Fighter Wing at Ohio's Lockborne AFB was activated under Gleed's command, with the 332nd Fighter Group as a key component. In 1970, Gleed retired from the military as a full Colonel after nearly 30 years and 6,000 flying hours in the U.S. Army Air Corps and the U.S. Air Force.

Post-military

After his retirement from the U.S. military, Gleed worked as a system program manager and chief administrator/contract negotiator for two defense contractors.

In 1976 at the age of 60, Gleed graduated from Los Angeles, California's Southwestern University School of Law.