Lt. Col. (Ret.) Robert Ashby, USAF, and Captain (Ret.) Frontier Airlines. Photo courtesy of the Archer-Ragsdale Arizona Chapter Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. PHOENIX - One of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen in Arizona has passed away at the age of 95, says a news release from the Archer-Ragsdale Arizona Chapter Tuskegee Airmen, Inc.Officials with the Archer-Ragsdale Arizona Chapter Tuskegee Airmen say retired Air Force Lt.
Col. Robert Ashby passed away on Friday, March 5 at his Sun City home.Ashby was the first Black man to be hired by Frontier Airlines after he served in the United States Air Force.At the age of 17, Ashby enlisted in the Army Air Corps Aviation Cadet program and was called to active duty in August of 1944.