Question: Cuba M. Gooding Jr. (born January 2, 1968) is an American actor, he gained later attention for his role in "Men of Honor", as Carl Maxie Brashear, a United States Navy sailor, and was the first African American to become what?

Context articles: George W. Gibbs Jr.
Carl Brashear
Red Tails
Osborn Deignan
Robert Blake (Medal of Honor)
Cuba Gooding Jr.
William J. Creelman
Ticking Clock
Men of Honor
USNS Carl Brashear (T-AKE-7)

George Washington Gibbs Jr. (November 7, 1916 – November 7, 2000), a sailor in the United States Navy, became the first African American to set foot on the continent of Antarctica on the Antarctic Peninsula as a member of Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd's third Antarctic expedition, also known as the United States Antarctic Service Expedition (1939–1941) on January 14, 1940.
 Gibbs served as a gunner in the U.S. Navy during World War II.
 After 24 years service in the U.S. Navy, Gibbs retired in 1959 as a chief petty officer.
 Gibbs then attended the University of Minnesota, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education.
 Gibbs worked in the personnel department of IBM at Rochester, Minnesota from 1963 to 1982.
 After retiring from IBM, Gibbs founded an employment agency, Technical Career Placement, Inc., which he continued to operate until 1999.
Carl Maxie Brashear (January 19, 1931 – July 25, 2006) was a United States Navy sailor.
 He was the first African American to become a U.S. Navy Master Diver, rising to the position in 1970 despite also having an amputated left leg.
Red Tails is a 2012 American war film directed by Anthony Hemingway in his feature film directorial debut, and starring Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding Jr. The film is about the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African-American United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) servicemen during World War II.
 The characters in the film are fictional, although based on real individuals.
 The film was produced by Lucasfilm and released by 20th Century Fox.
 This was Cuba Gooding Jr.'s first theatrically released film in five years since his starring role in 2007's "Daddy Day Camp".
Osborn Warren Deignan (February 24, 1873 – April 16, 1916) was an enlisted sailor and later a Warrant Officer in the United States Navy.
 He received his country's highest military decoration—the Medal of Honor—for actions in the Spanish–American War.
 Born in Iowa, he joined the Navy in 1894 and participated in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba, the largest naval engagement of the Spanish-American war.
 Deignan and seven others attempted to block the entrance to Santiago Harbor, Cuba but the Spanish destroyed their ship before they could accomplish their mission, and took them prisoner.
 The men were later released and Deignan received the Medal of Honor for his actions.
 He went on to become an officer and served in various posts and ships throughout the Navy until retiring in 1906.
 He died in Colorado in 1916, and was buried in California.
Robert Blake was a Union Navy sailor during the American Civil War and a recipient of America's highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor.
 Blake was the second African American to perform a Medal of Honor action; William Harvey Carney was the first.
 Blake was the first African American to actually "receive" a Medal of Honor - his was presented to him in 1864, while Carney did not receive his until 1900.
 But, because Carney's Medal of Honor action occurred first, Carney, not Blake, is usually credited with being the first African American Medal of Honor recipient.
Cuba M. Gooding Jr. (born January 2, 1968) is an American actor.
 He gained his breakthrough role as Tre Styles in "Boyz n the Hood" (1991); he appeared in "A Few Good Men" (1992), "The Tuskegee Airmen" (1995), "Outbreak" (1995) and "Jerry Maguire" (1996), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
 He gained later attention for his roles as Carl Brashear in "Men of Honor", and in Michael Bay's WWII epic "Pearl Harbor" (2001) as Doris Miller.
 His other notable films include "As Good as It Gets" (1997), "American Gangster" (2007), "Lee Daniels' The Butler" (2013), and "Selma" (2014), playing civil rights attorney Fred Gray.
 In 2016, he portrayed O.J. Simpson in the FX drama series "", and co-starred in the sixth season of the FX anthology series "American Horror Story", subtitled "".
William James Creelman (August 3, 1874 – March 24, 1928) was a United States Navy sailor and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor.
 He was awarded the medal for jumping overboard during an 1897 winter storm in an unsuccessful attempt to rescue a shipmate from drowning.
 Creelman went on to become a commissioned officer before leaving the Navy.
Ticking Clock is a 2011 American action film directed by Ernie Barbarash, and starring Cuba Gooding Jr. and Neal McDonough.
 The film was released on direct-to-DVD in the United States on January 4, 2011.
 This is the second film between Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Ernie Barbarash, they both previously in 2009's "Hardwired".
Men of Honor (released in the UK and Ireland as Men of Honour) is a 2000 drama film, starring Robert De Niro and Cuba Gooding Jr. The film was directed by George Tillman, Jr. It is inspired by the true story of Master Chief Petty Officer Carl Brashear, the first African American master diver in the United States Navy.
USNS "Carl Brashear" (T-AKE-7) is a "Lewis and Clark"-class dry cargo ship of the United States Navy, named in honor of Master Chief Boatswain’s Mate Carl Brashear (1931–2006), the first African-American to become a US Navy Master Diver, despite having lost a leg in the 1966 Palomares incident.