Awesome

Jim Bowman, a Tuskegee Airman from World War II, is also 86. He voted early, almost a month ago, he was so eager to vote for Obama.

“I haven’t cried in a long time,” he said, “but just thinking about it brings me to tears.”

Bowman had a father who told him he was going to college, and that was that. It was pay as you go, but he made it through and eventually became a war hero and, as Dr. James Bowman, became the assistant superintendent of the Des Moines Public School system.

“To see this happen,” he said, “is one of the greatest blessings I’ve had. I don’t take lightly the progress we’ve made in this country. I’m thrilled with it. But there are barriers still. I hear people say they just don’t think they could ever vote for a black man — for some offices, maybe, but not this one. Well, I can’t help thinking the good Lord is working overtime on some folks.”