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Soldier father, Airman son change American military with selfless service

  • Published
  • By Greg Allen
  • 27th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs
CANNON AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  Benjamin Davis is a small street in Clovis, and where it makes a hard curve, is a street sign that seem confusing. It appears to intersect with itself. 

What is not confusing, however, is the fact that the street  is named after two large men who helped change conditions for African-American in the American military and perceptions by the American public. 

Benjamin O. Davis Sr. was born July 1, 1877, in Washington,  D.C., and rose from an enlisted  private to become the American  military's first African-American general. 

In 1898, Davis enlisted in the 8th U.S. Volunteer Infantry during the Spanish-American War and in 1899 reenlisted in the regular Army as a private. In 1901, he was commissioned  a second lieutenant, served in the Philippines and later became a professor of military science and tactics at a military university. He was given his first
command in 1938 and in 1940, after 42 years of service, became the first African-American  general in the U. S. military. 

In 1946, he became Assistant to the Inspector General in Washington, D.C. , and his report on segregation  was a determining factor in President Harry Truman's decision to end segregation in the  military in 1948. The Air Force was the first branch of service to fully integrate.

After 50 years of  service, he retired July 14, 1948 and died Nov. 26, 1970.  On Jan, 28, 1997 the Benjamin  O. Davis Sr. commemorative stamp was issued and dedicated at the National Guard Armory in Washington, D.C. 

Davis passed his love  of the military on to his son. Benjamin O. Davis Jr. was born  Dec. 18 1912, and was the first  African-American to graduate  from West Point in the 20th  century. Because he was African- American, he was officially "silenced" by West Point cadets - no one spoke to him except on official business for four years - and he roomed alone. 

He was also the first  African-American officer in the  Army Air Force and a leader of  the famed Tuskegee Airmen of  World War II. His military career spanned five decades and three  wars. 

In 1942, six months shy of his 30th birthday, Davis assumed  command of the Tuskegee Army Air Force's 99th Fighter Squadron. He flew P-51 Mustangs in combat in Europe, and later formed the 332nd Fighter  Group. The group never lost a  single bomber to enemy aircraft. 

In the spring of 1945 Davis led a fighter squadron against airfields in southern Germany and was awarded a Silver Star. 

Benjamin Davis Jr. retired as a lieutenant general in He retired in 1970 and was promoted to four-star general(retired) on Dec. 9, 1998. Davis died July 4, 2002.

(Note: The original article was published in the Feb. 6, 2006 issue of the Mach Meter, the former base paper for. Sources: Compiled from Air Force News Agency, the U. S. Air Force Biographical Dictionary by Col. Flint DuPre, The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2005, and U. S. Army Archives )

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