NJ Weyman Watson Dies In Orange House Fire

The man killed in a house fire in South Orange has been identified as Weyman Watson. Watson was the son of Tuskegee Airman Captain Spann Watson.

The deadly fire occurred Sunday on Warwick Avenue. Upon entering the house, officials found Watson, 61, unresponsive.

According to fire officials, several units were dispatched.

Watson was taken to St. Barnabas Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead. source

No one else was injured in the fire.

“After growing up in the sunlight of the Tuskegee Airmen, Weyman Watson followed the footsteps of his father and older brothers into the military. Commissioned as a Navy Ensign in 1980, he went on to a thirty year active and reserve career in Naval Aviation and Intelligence, participating is some of the most important events of the Cold War, Middle Eastern and post 9/11 conflicts. He has over 1600 flying hours as a Tactical Coordinator, Weapons Systems Officer, Navigator and Electronic Warfare Officer in U.S. and NATO aircraft, including the P-3, RAF Nimrod, H-60, B-52, C-12 and UH-1, executing or controlling multi-national military and humanitarian operations in the Atlantic, Pacific, Caribbean, Latin American and Mediterranean Theaters. He retired from the Navy Reserve with the rank of Captain. He is more than proud to be the son of Lieutenant Colonel Spann Watson, one of the original pilots of the famed 99th Fighter Squadron, the very first unit of the group now known as “The Tuskegee Airmen.” source

(PHOTO: Ryan Christopher Jones)