Davis, Benjamin Oliver, Jr. (1912-2002), a United States Air Force officer, led the Tuskegee Airmen, a famed group of African Americans who served in the Army Air Forces during World War II (1939-1945). In 1959, Davis became the first African American military officer in U.S. history to be made a major general.
Davis was born on Dec. 18, 1912, in Washington, D.C. His father, Benjamin O. Davis, an Army officer, became the highest ranking African American officer in 1940, when the Army made him a brigadier general. In World War II, the younger Davis flew 60 combat missions and earned the Distinguished Flying Cross. The Tuskegee Airmen, whom Davis commanded during the war, achieved an outstanding combat record. Many of them became decorated war heroes (see Tuskegee Airmen).
Davis became director of manpower and organization of the U.S. Air Force in 1961. He was promoted to lieutenant general in 1965. He retired from the Air Force in 1970, after commanding the Thirteenth Air Force during the Vietnam War. He served as an assistant secretary of the Department of Transportation from 1971 to 1975. His autobiography, Benjamin O. Davis: American, was published in 1991. President Bill Clinton promoted Davis to four-star general in 1998. Davis died on July 4, 2002.
