Cuba Gooding Jr. is back on the big screen in Red Tails — the George Lucas action film inspired by the first all-African American aerial combat unit to serve in World War II.

Gooding Jr. is no stranger to the story of the pilots who famously painted the tails of their P-51 Mustang planes red — he also stared in the 1995 HBO film Tuskegee Airmen about the same group of fighter pilots.

“When I did Tuskegee Airmen, I was embarrassed because I didn’t know who they were. I was supposedly done with my education and I had no idea,” the actor tells Parade.com “There was a frustration there for me.”

Gooding Jr., 44, talked to Parade.com about bringing the historic tale back to life on the big screen.

On the importance of telling the story of the Tuskegee Airmen.
“Whenever there’s a story of African-American contribution, specifically in the war efforts, I jump all over it. To me, it’s a healing film for a nation. I don’t care if you’re black, white, whatever, you feel proud to know that our country has created such warriors. I look at this movie as my love letter to the men and women in our armed services. No matter how screwed up the politics are and war is in general, what they are doing is selfless and heroic and should be celebrated because they provide the freedoms we enjoy.”

On educating the world about African-American history.
“I travel the world as an actor and after 9/11 there was so much resentment towards Americans. And when President Barack Obama took office, I had people saying to me, ‘How does that happen? To have a black man run such a racist nation.’ And I thought, ‘Wow, how do I respond to that?’ If you think of my movies: Men of Honor, the first black Navy Diver who overcame insurmountable odds; Dorris Miller in Pearl Harbor who fought in WWII, and Tuskegee Airmen and all of their accomplishments. If you knew about African-American history, you’d realize that President Barack Obama was just a natural progression of things, but there wasn’t that education for people abroad.”

Test Your Knowledge of African-American Firsts in Pop Culture History

On filming on the outskirts of Prague.
“The coolest part for me was being at an airfield every day for two months and getting paid to look at relics. There were B-52 bombers that took off and landed and P-51 Mustangs doing barrels in the sky. It was a treat. And the fact that we shot at an old abandoned airbase, it literally was like going back in time.”

On inspiring his three children: sons Spencer, 17, Mason, 15, and daughter Piper, 6.
“I try not to make this seem all sanctified, but the luck of the draw is that I’m able to be a part of a movie that I think will be beneficial for my kids. In the [Red Tails] promos, the airmen chant ‘we fight, we fight,’ and my two boys, who play football, have been coming into a huddle sometimes before the games and yelling ‘we fight, we fight.’ It’s great.”

Filming was an education.
“At the time, the army was segregated, so they had an all-black airbase, which meant that the chefs were black, the doctors were black, the mechanics were black. It was a community of black people back in a time that was so close to slavery and they were doing everything for themselves. It blew me away. I also learned that in every major war effort in American history, there have always been black participants. From the Indian Wars, Civil War, WWI, WWII. I didn’t know that.”

On being an inspiration to his younger co-stars.
“It’s a chain of responsibility and a sense of accomplishment. Every day we had a real Tuskegee airman on the set and we would sit around them and they would just tell us stories. And then some days I would sit in my chair and a few of the extras would come up and they would ask me questions and I would be in the same position as the Tuskegee airman and telling stories, like the first time I shot with Ice Cube on Boyz n the Hood and they did the same wide-eyed thing. It just makes you feel like you’re doing God’s will and you’re in the right place in life.”

On his rapid rise to fame.
“If you think about the milestone’s of my career, the first time I was paid over a million bucks, or the first time I headlined a movie that made $100 million, or winning an Oscar, it happened all in the beginning of my career. I didn’t know what to say or think. I thought I was the norm. Now, I realize how special those moments are and I just appreciate them.”

On his memorable 1997 Academy Award acceptance speech.
“I was so embarrassed by it for so many years that I’d never talk about it, but the bottom line is if you see my movie and you walk out laughing or crying, I did my job. So if that acceptance speech moves people to laugh or even get excited, it’s just what I do.”

Watch Cuba Gooding Jr.’s emotional Oscar speech

On what’s ahead for 2012.
“It’s an election year so that will be interesting to see what happens, My son will start his senior year in high school — that’s a biggie. He’ll be off to college soon. It really is a transitional year. I think it will be good.”