Benjamin O. Davis Jr.

Davis, Jr. in c. 1960

Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr. (December 18, 1912 – July 4, 2002) was an American United States Air Force general and commander of the World War II Tuskegee Airmen. 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 19 , 1912 in Washington, D.C.. He studied at the University of Chicago and at the United States Military Academy. Davis, Jr. was married to Agatha Davis until she passed in 2002. Because of that, they had no children. Davis, Jr. died on July 4, 2002 from Alzheimer's disease in his home in Washington, D.C. when he was 89.^[1] He was later buried at the Arlington National Cemetery.He was the first black general in the air force. On July 15 2016 he was 290 yrs old

Benjamin O. Davis Jr. Media

Captain Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr. of Washington, D.C., climbing into an Advanced Trainer (Tuskegee, Alabama; January 1942).
Illustration of LTC Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. by Charles Henry Alston.
Colonel Davis standing near the nose of a P-47 Thunderbolt, 1944
Colonel Davis, commander of the 51st FIW, leads a formation of F-86F Sabres during the Korean War, 1953
4 April 1956, the “Official Opening” of the Air Task Force Thirteen (Provisional) new compound took place and was attended by high ranking ROCAF officers including General Wang Shu-ming, Commanding General, ROC Air Force and Brigadier General Benjamin O. Davis Jr, Commander, Air Task Force Thirteen (Provisional), Taipei, Taiwan.
General Earle E. Partridge pinning a general's star on Davis.
Portrait of General Davis shortly after receiving his fourth star.
Major rank insignia for the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps.
Lieutenant Colonel rank insignia for the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps.
Colonel rank insignia for the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps and captain rank for U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, USPHSCC, and NOAACOC.