The Tuskegee Airmen program started in Tuskegee, Alabama ("Negro To Train..."). The program began in September 1940 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared that blacks could fly sophisticated aircraft. Before this, blacks could not participate in aviation, only because of their skin color, and if they wanted to, they would have to go through immense training compared to whites. Despite this, the Tuskegee Airmen's first class only consisted of thirteen black men ("Tuskegee Airmen..."). These men flew P-40s to start, and eventually graduated to P-51 Mustangs (Haulman). The Airmen flew their first mission in 1941, eventually helping to claim victory over World War II (WWII) and showed that people of different race could achieve the same as whites ("Tuskegee Airmen...").