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Gen. Benjamin O. Davis Jr., first Black Air Force general, dies at age 89
Jet, July 22, 2002
Gen. Benjamin O. Davis Jr, the commander of the famed all-Black Tuskegee Airmen during World War II and the first Black general in the U.S. Air Force, recently died at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He was 89.
Gen. Davis was the son of the U.S. Army's first Black general, Benjamin O. Davis Sr.
Davis Jr., was the first Black cadet to graduate from West Point in the 20th century and one of the first Black pilots in the military.
A native of Washington, D.C., Benjamin Oliver Davis began his military career during the era of segregation and led a unit that was credited with a major role in bringing about integration of the armed services in the years after World War II.
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Throughout his career he battled racism and once recalled how Whites did not believe Blacks had the intelligence or courage to be pilots.
Gen. Davis said, "All the Blacks in the segregated forces operated like they had to prove they could fly an airplane when everyone believed they were too stupid."
He revealed the pressures he and his fellow Tuskegee Airmen went through in his autobiography, Benjamin O. Davis Jr.: American. "We would go through any ordeal that came our way, be it in garrison existence or combat, to prove our worth. Our airmen considered themselves pioneers in every sense of the word."
In 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt demanded that a Black flying unit be created. Davis was assigned to the first training class at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama and in 1942, he won his wings aider completing the highly competitive course.
He went on to command the Tuskegee Airmen and became the first Black general in the U.S. Air Force in 1954.
Davis also led the much larger Black unit, the 332nd Fighter Group which escorted bombers on 200 air combat missions over Europe during World War II. They were said to have never lost any of the planes that relied on them for support.
He attended the University of Chicago and later entered the U.S. Military Academy in 1932, after being sponsored by Congressman Oscar De Priest of Chicago, who was the only Black member of Congress at the time, the New York Times reported.
Davis recalled how no one would speak to him or room with him during his four years at West Point.
"Living as a prisoner in solitary confinement for four years had not destroyed my personality nor poisoned my attitude toward other people," he wrote in his autobiography.
"I had even managed to keep a sense of humor about the situation when my father told me of my many supporters, the many people who were pulling for me, I said, `It's a pity none of them were at West Point.'"
Davis rose above the racism and graduated 35th in a class of 276, becoming only the fourth Black graduate in West Point's history.
The Tuskegee Airmen's courageous performance is credited by historians for helping to prompt President Harry Truman integrate the armed forces, starting with the Army Air Force.
Truman signed the executive order for the integration of the armed services in 1948 and Davis helped draft the blueprint on integration that went into effect the next year, the New York Times recently recalled.
"Today, there are about 4,000 Black officers in the Air Force, almost six percent of the total," said Alan Gropman, a department chairman at the National Defense University who has done extensive research on the Tuskegee Airmen.
"Davis can claim the largest portion of the credit for opening the doors to Black men and women."
In 1970, aider he retired from the Air Force, Davis was put in charge of the federal sky marshal program designed to stop airline hijackings. The following year, he was named an assistant secretary of transportation.
Davis left the Air Force as a lieutenant general with three stars and was the senior Black officer in the armed forces. President Clinton advanced Davis to a full general in 1998, awarding him a fourth star.
In awarding him the distinction, Clinton said, "General Davis is here today as living proof that a person can overcome adversity and discrimination, achieve great things, turn skeptics into believers and through example and perseverance, one person can bring truly extraordinary change."
Clinton added: "To all of us, General Davis, you are the very embodiment of the principal that with firm diversity we can build stronger unity. If we follow your example we will always be a leader for democracy, opportunity and peace."
He is survived by a sister, Elnora Davis McLendon of Washington. His wife, Agatha died earlier this year.
COPYRIGHT 2002 Johnson Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
