He held a news conference at The Pentagon to defend his men and then presented his case to a War Department committee studying the use of black servicemen. Benjamin O. Davis Sr. served 41 years before he was promoted to brigadier general in October 1940. At the time of Davis's retirement, he held the rank of lieutenant general, but on December 9, 1998, President Bill Clinton awarded him a fourth star, raising him to the rank of full general. He remained in that position until his assignment as chief of staff for the United Nations Command and U.S. Davis, Jr. was appointed to the U.S. Military Academy in 1932 by Rep. Oscar S. … Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr. was born in Washington. The inquiry eventually reported that the 99th's performance was comparable to other air units, but any questions about the squadron's fitness were answered in January 1944 when its pilots shot down 12 German planes in two days while protecting the Anzio beachhead. Benjamin O. Davis Sr. served 41 years before he was promoted to brigadier general in October 1940. Davis attended Air War College, served at the Pentagon and in overseas posts over the next two decades. He was the first African-American general in the United States Air Force.On December 9, 1998, he was advanced to four-star general by President Bill Clinton.. Davis, Jr. was born on December 18, 1912 in Washington, D.C.. He ate by himself. He was the academy's fourth black graduate after Henry Ossian Flipper (1877), John Hanks Alexander (1887), and Charles Young (1889). Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., retired in 1970 as a three-star general. His father was a U.S. Army officer, and at the time he was stationed in Wyoming serving as a lieutenant with an all-white cavalry unit. Copy link. Managed by: Private User Last Updated: February 23, 2016 He was the first African-American general officer in the United States Air Force. During World War II, Davis was commander of the 99th Fighter Squadron and the 332nd Fighter Group, which escorted bombers on air combat missions over Europe. Davis himself flew sixty missions in P-39, Curtiss P-40, P-47 and P-51 Mustang fighters. He never had a roommate. The Benjamin O. Davis Jr. Award is presented to senior members of the. The squadron, equipped with Curtiss P-40 fighters, was sent to Tunisia in North Africa in the spring of 1943. He was the first black Brigadier general in the United States Air Force. Davis followed in his father's footsteps in breaking racial barriers, as Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. was the first African-American general in the United States Army. He opposed the practice as not only harmful to … Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., in full Benjamin Oliver Davis, Sr., (born July 1, 1877, Washington, D.C., U.S.—died November 26, 1970, North Chicago, Illinois), soldier who became the first black general in the U.S. Army. [5] In the late 1980s he began to work on his autobiography, Benjamin O. Davis Jr.: American: An Autobiography. While in Germany he was temporarily promoted to major general in 1959, and his promotion to brigadier general was made permanent in 1960. His father was a renowned military officer, the first Black General in the United States Army. Colonel Davis helped draft the Air Force plan for implementing this order. Lt. Gen. Benjamin O. Davis Jr., who broke color barriers and shattered racial myths as the commander of the Tuskegee Airmen, the pioneering black fighter pilots of … Benjamin O. Davis Jr., was born December 18, 1912, in Washington, D. C. His father, Benjamin O. Davis Sr., was one of two black combat officers in the US Army. When the Twelfth Air Force was transferred to James Connally Air Force Base, Texas in December 1957, he assumed new duties as deputy chief of staff for operations, Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), Wiesbaden Air Base, Germany. [15] A Red Tail P-51 Mustang, similar to the one he had flown in World War II, flew overhead during his funeral service. Overseeing the development of airport security and highway safety, Davis was one of the chief proponents of the 55 mile per hour speed limit enacted nationwide by the U.S. government in 1974 to save gasoline and lives. The elder General Davis was the first African-American general officer in the United States military. In April 1957 General Davis arrived at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, as chief of staff of Twelfth Air Force (12 AF), U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE). He was not allowed inside the base officers' club. Benjamin Oliver Jr. graduated West Point in 1936; Served in the 24th Infantry Division until first flight training program for blacks at Tuskegee, Alabama in July 1941. The "silent treatment" had the opposite effect. During his time in Tokyo, he was temporarily promoted to the rank of brigadier general. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. Benjamin O. Davis Jr. was born on December 18, 1912 and died on July 4, 2002. The U.S. Air Force Academy named its airfield today in honor of Air Force Gen. Benjamin O. Davis Jr., the service's first black general and the commander of … Davis was assigned as deputy commander in chief, U.S. Strike Command, with headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, in August 1968, with additional duty as commander in chief, Middle-East, Southern Asia and Africa. His honors included two Distinguished Service Medals and a Silver Star. Benjamin O. Davis Jr. was born on December 18, 1912 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA as Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr. During World War II, Davis was commander of the 99th Fighter Squadron and the 332nd Fighter Group, which escorted bombers on air combat missions over Europe. Tap to unmute. After serving as a volunteer in the Spanish-American War (1898), Benjamin Davis, Sr., enlisted as a private in the 9th Cavalry of the U. He was the first black officer to solo an Army Air Corps aircraft. In July 1961, he returned to the United States and Headquarters U.S. Air Force, where he served as the director of manpower and organization, deputy chief of staff for programs and requirements, having his promotion to major general made permanent early the next year; and in February 1965 he was assigned as assistant deputy chief of staff, programs and requirements. General Davis' effective dates of promotion are:[5]. He assumed command of the Thirteenth Air Force (13 AF) at Clark Air Base in the Republic of the Philippines in August 1967. At the start of his junior year at West Point, Davis had applied for the Army Air Corps but was rejected because it did not accept blacks. A career US Army officer, the elder Davis later became the service's first African-American general in 1941. Received wings in March 1942 to become the first black officer to solo in a USAAF aircraft. Benjamin O. Davis Sr. served 41 years before he was promoted to brigadier general in October 1940. When he was commissioned as a second lieutenant, the Army had only two black officers who weren't chaplains – Benjamin O. Davis Sr. and Benjamin O. Davis Jr.[2] After graduation he married Agatha Scott. [4] He again saw combat in 1953 when he assumed command of the 51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing (51 FIW) and flew an F-86 Sabre in Korea. Geni requires JavaScript! Davis Senior’s career was badly stunted by segregation. During the four years of his Academy term, Davis was racially isolated by his White classmates, few of whom spoke to him outside the line of duty.