Benjamin O . Davis , Jr . 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 officer in the United States Air Force . On December 9 , 1998 , he was advanced to four - star general by President Bill Clinton . During World War II , Davis was commander of the 99th and the 332nd Fighter Group , which escorted bombers on air combat missions over Europe . Davis himself flew sixty missions in P - 39 , Curtiss P - 40 , P - 47 and P - 51 Mustang fighters . Davis followed in his father ' s footsteps in breaking racial barriers , as Benjamin O . Davis , Sr . was the first African - American general in the United States Army . Biography . Benjamin Oliver Davis , Jr was born in Washington , D . C . on December 18 , 1912 , the second of three children born to Benjamin O . Davis , Sr . and Elnora Dickerson Davis . His father was a U . S . Army officer , and at the time was stationed in Wyoming serving as a lieutenant with an all - white cavalry unit . Benjamin O . Davis , Sr . served 41 years before he was promoted to brigadier general in October 1940 . Elnora Davis died from complications after giving birth to their third child ( Elnora ) in 1916 . At the age of 13 , in the summer of 1926 , the younger Davis went for a flight with a barnstorming pilot at Bolling Field in Washington , D . C . The experience led to his determination to become a pilot himself . He was the first officer to get his wings from the Tuskegee Army Air Field on March 7 , 1942 . After attending the University of Chicago , he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point , New York in 1932 . He was sponsored by Representative Oscar De Priest ( R - IL ) of Chicago , at the time , the only black member of Congress . During the entire four years of his Academy term , Davis was shunned by his classmates , few of whom spoke to him outside the line of duty . He never had a roommate . He ate by himself . His classmates hoped that this would drive him out of the Academy . The " silent treatment " had the opposite effect . It made Davis more determined to graduate . Nevertheless , he earned the respect of his classmates , as evidenced by the biographical note beneath his picture in the 1936 yearbook , the " Howitzer " : The courage , tenacity , and intelligence with which he conquered a problem incomparably more difficult than plebe year won for him the sincere admiration of his classmates , and his single - minded determination to continue in his chosen career cannot fail to inspire respect wherever fortune may lead him . He graduated in 1936 , 35th in a class of 278 . He was the academy ' s fourth black graduate . When he was commissioned as a second lieutenant , the Army had a grand total of two black line officers — Benjamin O . Davis , Sr . and Benjamin O . Davis , Jr . After graduation he married Agatha Scott . At the start of his senior year at West Point , Davis had applied for the Army Air Corps but was rejected because it did not accept blacks . He was instead assigned to the all - black 24th Infantry Regiment ( one of the original Buffalo Soldier regiments ) at Fort Benning , Georgia . He was not allowed inside the base officers ' club . He later attended the U . S . Army Infantry School at Fort Benning , but then was assigned to teach military tactics at Tuskegee Institute , a historically black college in Tuskegee , Alabama . This was something his father had done years before . It was the Army ' s way to avoid having a black officer in command of white soldiers . Early in 1941 , the Roosevelt administration , in response to public pressure for greater black participation in the military as war approached , ordered the War Department to create a black flying unit . Captain Davis was assigned to the first training class at Tuskegee Army Air Field ( hence the name Tuskegee Airmen ) , and in March 1942 won his wings as one of five black officers to complete the course . He was the first black officer to solo an Army Air Corps aircraft . In July that year , having been promoted to lieutenant colonel , he was named commander of the first all - black air unit , the 99th Pursuit Squadron . The squadron , equipped with Curtiss P - 40 fighters , was sent to Tunisia in North Africa in the spring of 1943 . On June 2 , they saw combat for the first time in a dive - bombing mission against the German - held island of Pantelleria . The squadron later supported the Allied invasion of Sicily . In September 1943 , Davis was called back to the United States to take command of the 332nd Fighter Group , a larger all - black unit preparing to go overseas . Soon after his arrival , however , there was an attempt to stop the use of black pilots in combat . Senior officers in the Army Air Forces recommended to the Army chief of staff , General George Marshall , that the 99th ( Davis ' s old unit ) be removed from combat operations as it had performed poorly . This infuriated Davis as he had never been told of any deficiencies with the unit . He held a news conference at The Pentagon to defend his men and then presented his case to a War Department committee studying the use of black servicemen . Marshall ordered an inquiry but allowed the 99th to continue fighting in the meantime . The inquiry eventually reported that the 99th ' s performance was comparable to other air units , but any questions about the squadron ' s fitness were answered in January 1944 when its pilots shot down 12 German planes in two days while protecting the Anzio beachhead . Colonel Davis and his 332d Fighter Group arrived in Italy soon after that . The four - squadron group , which was called the Red Tails for the distinctive markings of its planes , were based at Ramitelli Airfield and flew many missions deep into German territory . By summer 1944 the Group had transitioned to P - 47 Thunderbolt s . In the summer of 1945 , Davis took over the all - black 477th Bombardment Group , which was stationed at Godman Field , Kentucky . During the war , the airmen commanded by Davis had compiled an outstanding record in combat against the Luftwaffe . They flew more than 15 , 000 sorties , shot down 111 enemy planes , and destroyed or damaged 273 on the ground at a cost of 66 of their own planes and losing only about twenty - five bombers . Davis himself led dozens of missions in P - 47 Thunderbolt s and P - 51 Mustang s . He received the Silver Star for a strafing run into Austria and the Distinguished Flying Cross for a bomber - escort mission to Munich on June 9 , 1944 . In July 1948 , President Harry S . Truman signed an executive order ordering the racial integration of the armed forces . Colonel Davis helped draft the Air Force plan for implementing this order . The Air Force was the first of the services to integrate fully . Davis served at the Pentagon and in overseas posts over the next two decades . He again saw combat in 1953 when he assumed command of the 51st Fighter - Interceptor Wing ( 51 FIW ) and flew an F - 86 Sabre in Korea . He served as Director of Operations and Training at Far East Air Forces Headquarters , Tokyo , from 1954 until 1955 , when he assumed the position of Vice Commander , Thirteenth Air Force ( 13 AF ) , with additional duty as commander , Air Task Force 13 ( Provisional ) , Taipei , Taiwan . During his time in Tokyo he was temporarily promoted to the rank of Brigadier General , a rank not made permanent until after his temporary promotion to Major General . In April 1957 General Davis arrived at Ramstein Air Base , Germany , as chief of staff , Twelfth Air Force ( 12 AF ) , U . S . Air Forces in Europe ( USAFE ) . When the Twelfth Air Force was transferred to James Connally Air Force Base , Texas in December 1957 , he assumed new duties as deputy chief of staff for operations , Headquarters U . S . Air Forces in Europe ( USAFE ) , Wiesbaden Air Base , Germany . While in Germany he was temporarily promoted to Major General in 1959 , and his promotion to Brigadier General was finally made permanent in 1960 . In July 1961 , he returned to the United States and Headquarters U . S . Air Force where he served as the Director of Manpower and Organization , Deputy Chief of Staff for Programs and Requirements , having his promotion to Major General made permanent early the next year ; and in February 1965 he was assigned as assistant deputy chief of staff , programs and requirements . He remained in that position until his assignment as chief of staff for the United Nations Command and U . S . Forces in Korea ( USFK ) in April 1965 , at which time he was promoted to Lieutenant General . He assumed command of the Thirteenth Air Force ( 13 AF ) at Clark Air Base in the Republic of the Philippines in August 1967 . Davis was assigned as deputy commander in chief , U . S . Strike Command , with headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base , Florida , in August 1968 , with additional duty as commander in chief , Middle - East , Southern Asia and Africa . He retired from active military service on February 1 , 1970 . On December 9 , 1998 , Benjamin O . Davis Jr . was advanced to the rank of General , U . S . Air Force ( Retired ) , with President Clinton pinning on his four - star insignia . Dates of rank . General Davis ' effective dates of promotion are : Decorations and honors . At the time of Davis ' s retirement , he held the rank of lieutenant general , but on December 9 , 1998 President Bill Clinton awarded him a fourth star , raising him to the rank of full general . After retirement , he headed the federal sky marshal program , and in 1971 was named Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Environment , Safety , and Consumer Affairs . Overseeing the development of airport security and highway safety , Davis was one of the chief proponents of the 55 mile per hour speed limit to save gasoline and lives . He retired from the Department of Transportation in 1975 , and in 1978 served on the American Battle Monuments Commission , on which his father had served decades before . In 1991 , he published his autobiography , " Benjamin O . Davis Jr . : American " ( Smithsonian Institution Press ) . He is a 1992 recipient of the Langley Gold Medal from the Smithsonian Institution . His Military decorations included the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal , Army Distinguished Service Medal , Silver Star , Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters , Distinguished Flying Cross , Air Medal with four oak leaf cluster s , Army Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters , and the Philippine Legion of Honor . In 2002 , scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Benjamin O . Davis , Jr . on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans . Benjamin O . Davis Jr Aerospace Technical High School Detroit , MI , Benjamin O . Davis , Jr . Middle School in Compton , CA , as well as the former Gen . Benjamin O . Davis Aviation High School in Cleveland , OH all are named in his honor . The future Benjamin O . Davis , Jr . High School of the Aldine Independent School District in Houston , Texas will begin classes for the 2012 - 2013 school year . Death . His wife Agatha died in early 2002 and General Davis , who was 89 and suffering from Alzheimer ' s disease , followed shortly after , dying on July 4 , 2002 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington , D . C . . General Davis was buried July 17 , 2002 at Arlington National Cemetery . A Red Tail P - 51 Mustang , similar to the one he had flown in World War II , flew overhead during funeral services . Bill Clinton said , " General Davis is here today as proof that a person can overcome adversity and discrimination , achieve great things , turn skeptics into believers ; and through example and perseverance , one person can bring truly extraordinary change " .