Benjamin oliver davis jr biography
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Benjamin Oliver Davis, Jr., was born on December 18, 1912, in Washington, D.C. He was the second of Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., and Elnora Dickerson Davis’s three children. Davis, Sr., was a U.S. Army officer and became the first African American to earn the rank of brigadier general in the U.S. Army. Elnora Davis died in 1916 from complications of childbirth.
Davis, Jr., and his family lived in Washington, D.C. while his father was deployed in the Philippines starting in 1917. The family was reunited in 1920 when Davis, Sr., was stationed at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama where he taught military science and tactics, precursor to the modern-day ROTC. They then moved to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1924, when the senior Davis was assigned as an instructor to a federalized Ohio National Guard unit. Davis, Jr., graduated from Cleveland’s Central High School in 1929. He attended Western Reserve University and the University of Chicago before entering West Point in 1932.
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Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.
Benjamin O. Davis Jr.
Lieutenant General
99th Fighter Squadron “Tuskegee Airmen”
December 18, 1912 – July 4, 2002
Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., circa 1965. U.S. Air Force.
Lt. Gen. Benjamin O. Davis Jr. played a vital role in opening up the skies and the entire military for Black Soldiers. Davis spent more than 35 years in the military, breaking barriers at every level. He served all over the world, fighting against segregation on and off the battlefield. His service showed that Black Soldiers were just as brave and capable as white Soldiers. Davis helped integrate the Air Force, serving as the service’s first Black general and opening up opportunities for African Americans to follow in his footsteps.
Born in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 18, 1912, to Elnora and Benjamin O. Davis Sr., Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr. grew up in a military family. At the time, Davis Sr. was one of only two Black officers in the Army. Davis Sr. taught his son about the w
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Benjamin O. Davis Jr.
World War II pilot & first African-American US Air Force general officer (1912–2002)
Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr. (December 18, 1912 – July 4, 2002) was a United States Air Force (USAF) general and commander of the World War IITuskegee Airmen.
He was the first African-American brigadier general in the USAF. On December 9, 1998, he was advanced to four-star general bygd President Bill Clinton. 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 flew sixty missions in P-39 Airacobra, Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, P-47 Thunderbolt, and P-51 Mustang fighters and was one of the first African-American pilots to see combat. Davis followed in his father's footsteps in breaking racial barriers, as Benjamin O. Davis Sr. had been the first black brigadier general in the United States Army.[citation needed]
Early life
[edit]Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr