Wreckage from Tuskegee Airman's Plane That Crashed During WWII Training Recovered from Lake Huron...

A team of divers have been trolling the deep, cold waters of Lake Huron off Michigan’s Thumb for several weeks each of the past few years searching for scattered pieces of aviation — and Black military — history.

Their target is the wreckage of a World War II-era fighter plane flown by a member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen that crashed during training nearly 80 years ago near Port Huron, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) northeast of Detroit.

So far, the plane's bullet-riddled propellor and hundreds of other pieces have been recovered. Organizers this week hauled the P-39's 1,200-pound (544-kilogram) mussel-encrusted engine from about 30 feet (9 meters) below the surface of the the lake which is home to scores of sailing vessels, tankers and other ships that have sank over the past several centuries.

Once restored, the engine, like other parts of the plane, eventually will be exhibited at the Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Museum at the Coleman A. Young International Airport on Detroit's east side.