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Happy Juneteenth! The Aviation Museum and Library will be closed today and will reopen tomorrow, June 20th at 10am. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. was a groundbreaking member of the United States Armed Forces. The commander of both of the first African American Air Force regiments, the 99th Fighter Squadron and the 332nd Fighter Group, he led both units into active combat during World War II. Born on December 18, 1912, in Washington, D.C., to Benjamin O. Davis, Sr, the first African American brigadier general in the U.S. Army, he followed in his father's footsteps to become the first African American brigadier general in the U.S. Air Force. Davis, Jr. was the fourth African American man to graduate from West Point in 1936. Davis dreamed of being a military pilot. However, at the time the United States Armed Forces were segregated, and Davis, Jr. was assigned to an all-Black infantry regiment in Georgia. There were no all-Black aviation squadrons until the signing of a bill to expand the nation's defense program to include training for Black aviators in 1939. Davis, Jr. transferred to the Tuskegee Army Airfield for pilot training in 1941. Once he completed training, Davis, Jr. became the commander of the 99th Fighter Squadron and was deployed to active combat in the war. He was then assigned to the 332nd Fighter Group, a group of four fighter squadrons, which often escorted bombers in the European Theatre. In 1948, President Truman signed Executive Order 9981 desegregating the United States Armed Forces. In 2022, SFO Museum presented "Red Tails at Ramitelli," photographed by Toni Frissell, a photo essay about the Tuskegee Airmen stationed in Italy during World War II. Col. Benjamin O. Davis was photographed in March 1945. https://bit.ly/43JReuE Davis, Jr., continued to serve in the U.S Air Force until he retired from active duty in 1970. In 1998, President Bill Clinton promoted to Davis, Jr. to a four-star general. 332nd Fighter Group pilots. March 1945 (L-R) Col. Benjamin O. Davis, Commanding Officer, and Edward C. Gleed, Group Operations Officer, with North American P-51D Mustang Toni Frissell (1907-88) Collection of Library of Congress LC-DIG-ppmsca-32661
This image was posted on June 19, 2023.
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