He piloted 142 combat missions in World War II as one of the famed Tuskegee Airmen and later flew in the Korean and Vietnam wars. And now Robert J. Friend’s service will be memorialized with his name on an Irvine post office.
On Thursday, Aug. 25, about 75 friends and family gathered as U.S. Rep. Katie Porter unveiled a mock-up of a plaque naming the postal branch at 1 League as the Tuskegee Airman Lt. Col. Robert J. Friend Memorial Post Office Building.
Friend, who had lived in Irvine since 1972, died in 2019 at age 99.
As Friend’s oldest daughter, Thelma Hoffman, started to address to the crowd, a flight of aircraft, two T6s and a P51, flew over the ceremony. The aircraft, from the Palm Springs Air Museum, represent planes the Tuskegee Airmen trained in and flew on missions.
Hoffman referred to her father as, “living, breathing history” recalling how, besides being among the 355 pilots who served in the famed all-Black Air Force unit, he also served as director of Project Blue Book, investigating UFOs. Hoffman said her father couldn’t really talk about what he did on the project, but, “what he did tell us… the stories were just amazing.”
In describing her father, Hoffman said he loved spending his twilight years going to events and talking about his life in American history. She emphasized that most importantly, to her, “he was a wonderful and loving dad … and grandfather, and great-grandfather, and great-great-grandfather, as well as a father figure to many others.”
Retired U.S. Marine Major Robert J. Friend, Jr., said that even though his dad worked in other cities, “Irvine was always (his) home,” joking that his dad knew every restaurant in town, including his favorite rib joint and the best breakfast place.
Bobby McDonald, a trooper in the Greater Los Angeles Area Chapter of the Buffalo Soldiers, said Friend’s Orange County influence wasn’t limited to Irvine. He remembers when Heroes Hall opened in Costa Mesa, Friend represented the Air Force while digging the ceremonial first shovel and then he raised the Air Force flag when the building was completed.
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