page_title: Alfonza W. Davis
section_title: Biography
hierarchical_section_title: Alfonza W. Davis / Biography
caption_attribution_description: English: The w:P-51 Mustang flown by the w:Red Tail Project
context_page_description: Alfonza W. Davis was the first African-American aviator from North Omaha, Nebraska, to be awarded his "wings." He was a member of the Tuskegee Airmen, a recipient of the Purple Heart, Distinguished Flying Cross and the Distinguished Unit Citation. Davis was assumed to be dead after going missing on or about July 30, 1945, over the Adriatic Sea.
context_section_description: Davis graduated valedictorian from Omaha's Technical High School in 1937 and went on to attend the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Creighton University earning a Bachelor of Science in Commerce degree from Creighton in 1941. At Creighton he was a member of the Chamber of Commerce. He was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.
  Davis joined the Army Air Corps in 1942, during World War II. He received his flight training at Tuskegee Airfield in Alabama, becoming the first African American from Omaha to graduate and earn his wings. Having graduated at the top of his flight class, he was chosen to be squadron leader of the 302d Fighter Group based in Italy. He later became attached to the 332d Fighter Group as the Assistant Group Operations Officer. The 332d was an all African American unit, known as the "Red Tail" group because of their special aircraft paint scheme. He achieved the rank of captain, flying mostly the P-51 Mustang escort fighter.
  Davis' awards and decorations included: a Purple Heart, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and a Distinguished Unit Citation. He was credited with one aerial victory in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations on July 16, 1944.
  During his last assignment with the 99th Pursuit Squadron as Squadron Commander, one of the fighter groups that Davis commanded, destroyed 83 German aircraft. While on a reconnaissance mission to Munich, Germany, Davis was lost and declared missing in action near the Gulf of Trieste in overcast weather. The United States Department of War later issued a presumptive finding of death while missing in action on October 30, 1945.
caption: Red tail P-51 Mustang associated with the Tuskegee airmen
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