The story of the Tuskegee Airmen is one of our nation's greatest stories about courage, perseverance, sacrifice and heroism. With the release of George Lucas’ new movie, “Red Tails,” I’m hoping that young people will be inspired to learn more about these remarkable heroes.

As an avid aviation and history buff, I’ve had the privilege to hear several of the pilots from the Tuskegee Airmen talk about their shared experiences as aviators fighting AGAINST the Axis powers and as pioneers fighting FOR civil rights. Though many have passed away, and all have grown older, I was always amazed to see their eyes sparkle and their spirits soar as they re-lived those days in the cockpits of their P-51s and P-47s.

I recently listened to a taped interview with one of those pilots talking about an aerial encounter in which he attributed his success to his aircraft’s ability to quickly gain altitude. It struck me that as we age and add more experiences to our lives, we do not gain wisdom – we simply gain “altitude.” And with altitude comes advantage. When we gain altitude, we no longer see life from ground level. We see a bigger picture of life made possible by altitude – and it gives us the great advantage of perspective.

As writers, as teachers, as librarians, I think that’s what we’re really trying to do for our readers and our students – to give them altitude. Altitude made possible by reading and education.

Altitude gained by learning from others – others like the heroes of the Tuskegee Airmen.

*Ron Nichols is the author of “Where the Sky Doesn’t End,” a novel for young adults released in November 2011 by Martin Sisters Publishing.