Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., born December 18, 1912 in Washington, DC, was the first African American brigadier general in the US Air Force. His father was Benjamin O. Davism, Sr., the first African American brigadier general in the US Army.
He entered the US Military Academy at West Point, graduating in 1936, become the first black man to do so since 1889.The US Army assigned him to the all-black 24th Infantry Regiment at Fort Benning, Georgia. He then taught military tactics at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. In 1941, he entered aviation cadet training and graduated in 1942, becoming one of four first African American combat pilots in the US military.
In September 1943, Davis was assigned to command the 332nd Fighter Group, and went overseas. During WWII, the airmen he commanded flew more than 15,000 sorties, shot down 112 enemy planes, and damaged or destroyed 273 planes on the ground, losing only 66 of their own planes and 25 bombers. Davis received a Silver Star for a strafing run into Austria and the Distinguished Flying Cross for a bomber-escort mission to Munich June 9, 1944. At the end of the war he had been promoted to colonel.
When President Truman ordered the racial integration of the armed forces, Col. Davis helped draft the Air Force plan for implementing this order. He returned to combat when he assumed command of the 51st Figher-Interceptor Wing in Korea in 1953.
He was promoted to major general in 1959 and brigadier general in 1960. He retired from the Air Force in 1970.
President Clinton promoted Davis to four-star general in 1998.
He passed away in July 2002.
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