Celebrating Black History Month: Hazel Johnson-Brown, first African American female brigadier general in the US Army

Hazel Johnson-Brown, born October 10, 1927 in West Chester, Pennsylvania, is the first African American female general in the US Army.  She moved to New York City to attend the Harlem School of Nursing, and in 1947, she started at the Harmlem Hosptial emergency ward. 

Johnson-Brown enlisted in the US Army in 1955 and rose in the ranks as she impressed her superior with her skill in the operating room.  She took assignments all over the world, including Japan where she trained nurses on their way to Vietnam. 

Johnson-Brown was promoted to brigadier general in 1979(?), becoming the first black woman to attain that rank.  She retired from the army n 1983. 

During Operation Desert Storm in 1990, she volunteered to work at For Belvoir, Virginia's Army Hosptial.

She passed away in Wilmington, Delaware in  August 2011.

Gen. Hazel Johnson-Brown 

Celebrating Black History Month: Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., first African American brigadier general in US Air Force

 

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.

Benjamin Davis Jr. interview

Celebrating Black History Month: Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., first African American to promoted to brigadier general

Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., born July 1, 1877 in Washington, DC, became the first African American to be promoted to brigadier general in the US Army.  He graduated from Howard University in 1898, and joined the 8th volunteer Infantry for the Spanish-American War, receiving a commission as a first lieutenant.

He joined the regular army as a private and then became a on-commissioned officer.  In 1901, he was appointed second lieutenant of Cavalry.  He served in the Philippine-American War and Wrold War I.  Despite racism and being passed over for promotions, he was promoted to Colonel in 1930.

Davis's accomplishments led him to be promoted to brigadier general and commanded the 4th Cavalry Brigade, 2nd Cavalry Division.  He retired in 1948 and passed away in November 1970.

Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawai'ian, Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Francis Takemoto, first Native Hawai'ian brigadier general in US Army

Francis Takemoto, born November 28, 1912 in Honolulu, Hawai'i, graduated from University of Hawai'i with a degree in chemistry in 1935. He participated in the ROTC program and was commissioned as a second lieutenant of infantry in the Army Reserve. 

In March 1943, he reported for active duty and sent to train with the 442nd Infantry in Mississippi.  In March 1944, he was transferred to the 100th Infantry Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division in Italy.  He earned a Bronze Star Medal and a Purple Heart, after receiving a shrapnel wound to the side of his head, for his WWII service.

Takemoto was released from active duty in January 1946, and promoted to captain in the Army Reserve in September 1946. He was promoted to colonel in July 1960.  President Lyndon Johnson nominated him to be Brigadier general in the Army and Takemoto was confirmed by the US Senate in February 1964. 

He retired in May 1968. He passed away in May 2002 in Honolulu. 

Celebrating Native American Heritage Month: Ely Samuel Parker, first Native American (Seneca) promoted to brigadier general in US Army

Ely Samuel Parker, born in Indian Falls, New York in 1828, was bilingual being fluent in English and Seneca. He worked for a legal firm in Ellicottville, New York, and applied to take the bar examine.  Unfortunately, Native Americans were not considered US citizens, and he was not permitted to take it. 

After a chance meeting with Lewis Henry Morgan, Parker helped Morgan with information on the Seneca for Morgan's book on the Iroquois.  With Morgan's help, Parker earned an engineering degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.

He worked as a civil engineer until the start of the Civil War.  President Grant appointed Parker to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, become the first Native American to hold that position. Parker tried to raise a regiment of Iroquois volunteers to fight for the Union, but was turned down.  He tried to enlist in the Army but was turned down since he was Native American.

Grant got Parker a commission to captain in May 1863. Later, Parker was appointed as military secretary to Grant with the rank of lieutenant colonel.  He helped draft the surrender documents for Robert E. Lee's surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse in April 1865. 

Parker was promoted to brigadier general of the US Army March 2, 1867, becoming the first Seneca to achieve that rank. 

He passed away in  August 1895.

Celebrating Black History Month: Frank Petersen, first African-American Marine Corps general

Frank Petersen, born March 2, 1932 in Topeka, Kansas, was the first African-American Marine Corps aviator and the first African-American Marine Corps general.

He enlisted in the US Navy in June 1950 and served as an electronics technician, but he vowed to a combat pilot.  He entered the Naval Aviation Cadet Program in 1951 and completed flight training in October 1952.  He accepted a commission as second lieutenant in the Marine Corps.  He served during the Korean War and the Vietnam War.  

In February 1979, he was promoted to brigadier general, the first African-American to achieve the rank in the US Marine Corps.  In May 1983, he was promoted to major general and in June 1986, to lieutenant general.  He was Commanding General, Marine Corps Combat Development Command in Quantico, VA in July 1988 when he retired.  

He passed away in August 2015 from lung cancer.