Benjamin O. Davis - Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.: American: An Autobiography

1991 By Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.
All rights reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Davis, Benjamin O., 1912
Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., American : an autobiography / Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-87474-742-2 (alk. paper)
1. Davis, Benjamin O. (Benjamin Oliver), 1912 . 2. GeneralsUnited StatesBiography. 3. United States. Air ForceBiography. I. Title.
U53.D38A3 1991
355.008996073dc20
[B] 90-9905

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data available

The illustrations appearing in this book are from the collection of the author. The Smithsonian Institution Press does not retain reproduction rights for these illustrations individually or maintain a file of addresses for photo sources.

On the cover: Colonel Davis, commander of the 332d Fighter Group, in Italy in 1944.

A full subject index is included in the print edition.

ISBN: 978-1-560983-95-8 (paperback)
ISBN: 978-1-944466-03-9 (ebook)

v3.1

To Agatha

WITH DEEP APPRECIATION FOR HER INNUMERABLE CONTRIBUTIONS

Most of the details of my first flight are lost to me. About all I really remember are the takeoff and the feeling of exhilaration, looking down on the city of Washington and up at white clouds above us. And I remember a sudden surge of determination to become an aviator.

The family into which I was born in Washington, D.C., on 18 December 1912, was well-acquainted with pride, determination, and struggle. At that time, my father, Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., was a first lieutenant of cavalry at Fort D. A. Russell, Wyoming. My mother, Elnora Dickerson Davis, wanted me to be born in my fathers home, so she made the long trip from Fort Russell to Washington for her confinement. Because my father could not get leave, she then had to make the trip back to Wyoming with me and my sister, Olive, to visit him. This kind of extra effort was typical of the Davises.

My father was all Army, through and through, and he served for 50 years before his retirement in 1948. He had always wanted to be a soldier. As a boy it had thrilled him to watch the ceremonial cavalry unit stationed across the Potomac at Fort Myer, Virginia, when they paraded by, mounted on beautiful, well-groomed horses.

How lucky I was to have a father who, in spite of formidable obstacles, would fight for his beliefs and ambitions and win! Throughout my own military career and beyond, his achievements stood as an example of what could be accomplished in the face of seemingly impossible social opposition. My own career was to differ markedly from his because of the integration of the armed services in 1948, shortly before he retired. But we both suffered the pains of racial prejudice in the service and in society at large; we both fought against segregation throughout our lives; and we were both determined to help change things for the better.

Louis Patrick Henry Davis, my fathers father, had spent his boyhood as a servant in the home of Gen. and Mrs. John A. Logan. General Logan, who later became a U.S. representative and a U.S. senator from Illinois, had participated actively in the effort to impeach President Andrew Johnson. My grandfather favorably impressed the Logan family and gradually became their sons companion. Later, as General Logans protg, he worked in the Interior Department. He thus gained a measure of economic security and was able to purchase a home at 1830 11th Street NW, where I was born.

My fathers early ambition to be a soldier was nurtured by the military training he received as a cadet at Washingtons M Street High School and later as a member of a black unit of the District of Columbia National Guard. My grandfather turned to General Logan and a White House aide to secure him an appointment to West Point, but he was told that for political reasons, President William McKinley could not appoint a black man to the U.S. Military Academy. Consequently, my father decided to enlist in the Army and seek a commission through competitive examination.

This plan displeased my grandfather, whose elitist view of the military held that enlisted men were of a lower order, not acceptable to his family circle. It is true that before World War II, Army enlisted people, white and black, were not accorded anywhere near the respect they enjoy today. The military budget was low, the pay was low, and the status of enlisted men was low in the estimation of the general population. As a result of this disagreement, a breach developed between my father and grandfather that lasted almost until my grandfathers death in 1921, when I believe some sort of reconciliation occurred. My fathers mother, Henrietta Stewart Davis, did not actively oppose my fathers enlistment, but she did express her strong desire that he seek a career as a minister. She and my father did not disagree on his career choice, however, to the extent of falling out with each other.

In spite of his parents disapproval, my father was sworn in on 14 June 1899 and assigned to Troop I, 9th Cavalry, stationed at Fort Duchesne, Utah. The pay was $25 every two months, but neither that nor the low social status of enlistees diminished his enthusiasm for the Army. In Washington he had been known as Ollie Davis, but he enlisted as Benjamin O. Davis expressly to keep any attendant publicity from unnecessarily offending the family. Upon reporting for duty he discovered that he possessed a tremendous advantage over his fellow soldiershe could read and write. His knowledge of Army regulations and administration and his willingness to work long hours made him an indispensable asset to his organization and enabled him to advance to sergeant-major in only a few months.

His achievements were truly awe-inspiring. How was it possible for an enlisted man in the black 9th U.S. Cavalry Regiment, at the turn of the century, to go before a regional U.S. Army board at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and obtain from it a solid recommendation that he be given a Regular Army commission as a second lieutenant of cavalry? And how was it possible that the War Department, in 1901, would include his name among other nominees for commission? My father never answered these questions for me, and my conclusion, very simply, is that he was a most exceptional young man, capable of convincing many in the racially unenlightened Army chain of command that he had earned and deserved a Regular Army commission. He thus joined the only other black regular line officer in the Army, Charles Young, an 1889 graduate of West Point.

My fathers first duty as a second lieutenant was with Troop M, 9th Cavalry, in the Philippines. In October 1902 he returned on leave to Washington, where he renewed several years friendship with a former schoolmate, Elnora Dickerson, who lived less than two blocks from his home. They were married on 23 October 1902, and my sister Olive was born three years later.

The Dickerson family was a large one: seven girls and two boys. Edward and Lydia, my grandparents, had moved from Virginia to Washington after the Civil War at about the same time as my fathers family. My mothers father had supported his family as a driver, porter, teamster, expressman. He had no formal education, but he was able to purchase a home at 1711 11th Street NW in 1876. When he died 10 years later, his elder son took over the family business. The younger son became a piano repairman. All the girls worked as schoolteachers except my mother, who was a dressmaker.