WINGS OF HONOR

Arthur Addison is the right reader for this author's fictionalized account of three generations of "colored" warriors who join the U.S. Army when the Army is still hostile to blacks. The listener learns about grandfather Sharpe's adventures fighting Indians in the Southwest, his son's tours in Cuba and WWI, and his grandson's efforts to become an Army aviator as WWII dawns. Arthur Addison's voice is strong and clear as he narrates vignette after vignette of this poignant story. He's at his best, however, when portraying Samuel Sharpe's Negro grandmother, the family mainstay and, ironically, when portraying an Alabama White supremacist. As the real action unfolds toward the end, Addison's narration ripples with excitement. Then, he deftly shifts to a sensitive-voiced Samuel as the Tuskegee Airmen are given the honor due them. A.L.H. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 02]