Spann, who was raised in Rutherford, was a pioneering black World War II combat pilot recognized for his bravery escorting bombers over enemy territory in Europe in the 1940s.
He once said watching the planes take off from Teterboro Airport inspired him to become a pilot. He volunteered for the Army Air Corps and was sent to Tuskegee, Alabama to join the first group of African-American military aviators in the history of the U.S. Armed Forces, credited with breaking Read Story