Two Tuskegee Airmen friends die on the same day

(Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

A pair of Tuskegee Airmen who were friends for more than 70 years died in their homes Jan. 5 in Los Angeles. They were both 91.

Clarence E. Huntley Jr. and Joseph Shambrey enlisted together in 1942, and served as mechanics in Italy during World War II as members of the 100th Fighter Squadron of the Army Air Force's 332nd Fighter Group, The Associated Press reports.

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Neither spoke much about the war, relatives say, but Huntley did tell his daughter Sheila McGee one thing: "He said, 'I was doing what I was supposed to do, and that was to serve my country.'"

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.