Roberts family legacy memorialized at Gulfport-Biloxi Airport

They used the words “hero,” “legend” and “leader” to describe Col. Lawrence Roberts on Wednesday as a bust of him in his Tuskegee Airmen uniform was unveiled at the Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport.

Among the many friends and family members who attended the ceremony were three of his children — Lawrence II, Dorothy and Sally-Ann Roberts. Daughter Robin Roberts was in New York working on “Good Morning America” and will visit next week to see the sculpture.

The family commissioned the bust that will be displayed on the second floor of the airport next to those of Col. John Robinson, a Gulfport resident who was one of the first African-American pilots in the state, and Lt. Jeremiah O’Keefe, who was a World War II ace.

“I think of the courage it took to do what he did,” Dorothy Roberts said of her father.

Col. Lawrence Roberts served for 32 years, flying with the Tuskegee Airmen, a squadron of African-American pilots who never lost a plane they escorted during World War II.

He retired from Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi and several of those who spoke at the ceremony noted that they could tell the character of Roberts and his wife, Lucimarion, by the family they raised.

His son, Lawrence II, compared his father and Robinson, the “Brown Condor.”

“They had a true passion, a love of flying,” he said.

He added, “In both cases, it was not an easy path.”

Tuskegee was an experiment, he said, and it wasn’t expected to be successful.

It was fitting, he said, that three with the name Lawrence Roberts were there for the ceremony — Col. Roberts’ sculpture, son Lawrence Roberts II and grandson Lawrence Roberts III.

The bust, created by Ken and Mary Ott Davidson, is part of the John Robinson Brown Condor Association’s work to honor the great pilots of South Mississippi. The group is working to sign a lease with Gulfport to turn the old Rooms To Go store into a museum to honor the military and the pilots.

Sally-Ann Roberts thanked the community for embracing the Roberts family. She said she hoped those who attended the ceremony would leave with inspiration.

“Col. Robinson was Col. Roberts’ role model,” she said.

This story was originally published July 13, 2016 at 9:49 PM with the headline "Roberts family legacy memorialized at Gulfport-Biloxi Airport."