Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.

Born the son of a U.S. government worker in Washington, D.C., Davis attended Howard University, then in the Spanish‐American War helped recruit a company for the 8th U.S. Volunteer Infantry as a lieutenant. In 1899, after demobilization, he enlisted as a private in one of the army's traditional black cavalry units. Two years later, he passed a competitive examination and was commissioned a lieutenant in a black regiment. For the next three decades, Davis served in a number of positions—most of them designed to keep him from commanding white officers or white troops in the segregated army. These assignments included military attaché to Liberia, military science instructor at Wilberforce University and at Tuskegee Institute, and instructor with the Ohio and New York National Guard.

In 1930, Davis became the first black colonel. One week before the 1940 presidential election, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Davis a brigadier general, the army's first black general. In World War II, Davis headed a special section of the Inspector General's Department dealing with racial issues involving U.S. troops. During the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, he convinced Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower to accept the integration of black platoons into white units, a temporary breakthrough in the army's traditional segregation by regiment.

Davis retired in 1948 after fifty years of service. His son, Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., became America's first black lieutenant general. In 1998, the 85‐year‐old retired general was awarded a fourth star by President Bill Clinton.

[See also African Americans in the Military.]

Bibliography

• Bernard C. Nalty, Strength for the Fight: A History of Black Americans in the Military, 1986.
• Marvin E. Fletcher, America's First Black General: Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., 1880–1970, 1989

Davis, Benjamin Oliver, Sr. (1877-1970) U.S. army officer. Davis Sr. was born in Washington, D.C., and saw his first military service as a first lieutenant in the 8th Infantry Volunteers in the Spanish-American War (1898). After mustering out, he immediately reenlisted as a private in the 9th Cavalry and began working his way through the ranks. He regained his commission in the Philippines in 1901. He spent most of his army career teaching at Wilberforce or Tuskegee, until he took command of the 369th New York National Guard infantry regiment in 1938. Two years later his promotion as the first African-American brigadier general caused some controversy, since many saw it as a political maneuver by President Franklin D. Roosevelt a month before the election. Davis was commanding a brigade of the 2nd Cavalry Division when he retired in June 1941, but he was soon recalled to active duty to serve with the inspector general's office. During World War II he served in Europe as an adviser on race relations. He retired again in 1948 after fifty years of service.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

Gen. Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. (1877-1970) was the first African American general in the regular United States Armed Services. He assisted in developing and implementing a plan for the limited desegregation of U.S. combat forces in Europe during World War II.

Benjamin O. Davis was born on July 1, 1877, to Henrietta Stewart Davis and Louis P. H. Davis of Washington, D.C. He attended public schools and college in the nation's capital, ultimately graduating from Howard University.

Davis was commissioned a first lieutenant in the 8th U.S. Volunteer Infantry in 1898, thus beginning a distinguished military career which spanned half a century, four continents, and three major wars. Davis served in Cuba during the Spanish American War. Later he was stationed with the 9th Cavalry, one of two units of "Buffalo Soldiers" on the western frontier. The "Buffalo Soldiers," as the Indians called the African American regiments, were Indian fighters whose buffalo hide camouflage and reputation as fierce warriors won them their unusual nickname.

Subsequent tours of duty took Davis to the Philippines, Africa, Europe, and various places within the United States. He also taught military science at Tuskegee Institute and Wilberforce University. At retirement in 1948 General Davis was an assistant to the Army inspector general in Washington, D.C. He died November 26, 1970.

On October 25, 1940, Colonel Davis, then commander of the 369th Infantry of New York, was promoted to brigadier general. African Americans were elated over this long overdue appointment inasmuch as Davis, highly respected in the African American community, had been passed over for promotion many times while less senior white colonels had become generals. Although supportive of the Davis appointment, African American leaders contended that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, whose office made the announcement only days before the general election, used it as a political ploy to regain the support of many disillusioned African American voters who were critical of the administration's racial policies. An October 16 news release reiterating the War Department's segregationist policies had angered many African Americans, as had the virtual elimination of African Americans from the officers' ranks. Indeed, War Department statistics indicate that in 1940 there were only five Black commissioned officers in the regular U.S. Armed Forces. Three were chaplains. The two combat officers were General Davis and his son, Capt. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. In 1955 the younger Davis became the first African American general in the Air Force.

During World War II Davis, noted for his expertise in race relations, was summoned by the U.S. High Command to Europe where intense racial conflict among American troops had reached epidemic proportions. Davis's investigation indicated that racial strife was due primarily to discrimination against African American troops by their white countrymen. U.S. commanders not only strictly enforced segregation, but also urged Britons, more liberal in their racial attitudes and practices, to do likewise. Davis also found that African American troops deeply resented their exclusion from combat duty.

A shortage of combat troops, as well as political pressure and public demand, persuaded the American High Command in Europe to utilize African Americans in battle, thereby relieving some of the racial tension. Davis, long a proponent of integration of the Armed Forces, assisted in instituting a limited integration of forces in the European Theater. This experiment was successful, according to enlisted personnel, officers, and War Department officials; nevertheless, it did not lead to the full integration of the Armed Forces which Davis and others urged. (Full integration came only after a 1946 presidential directive by Harry S. Truman.)

Further Reading

A biographical sketch of Davis, as well as considerable information on African American soldiers, is included in Black Defenders of America, 1775-1973: A Reference and Pictorial History, by Robert Ewell Greene (1974). William H. Leckie's monograph The Buffalo Soldiers: A Narrative of the Negro Cavalry in the West (1967) is an interesting and informative work about Black soldiers on the post Civil War frontier. Richard M. Dalfiume, Desegregation of the United States Armed Forces: Fighting on Two Fronts, 1939-1953 (1969) and Gerald W. Patton, War and Race: The Black Officer in the American Military, 1915-1941 (1981) are two useful books.

military leader

Personal Information

Born Benjamin Oliver Davis in 1877 in Washington, DC; died of complications of leukemia, November 26, 1970; son of Louis (a messenger in government offices) and Henrietta (a nurse; maiden name, Stewart) Davis; married Elnora Dickerson, 1902 (died, 1916); married Sadie Overton, 1919 (died, 1966); children: Olive; Benjamin Oliver, Jr.; Elnora.
Education: Attended Howard University.

Career

Career military officer in the U.S. Army. Temporary lieutenant, volunteer cadets, Spanish-American War, 1898-99; private, Ninth Cavalry, Regular Army, Samar, Philippines, 1899-1901; second lieutenant, Tenth Cavalry, Philippines and Fort Washakie, Wyoming, 1901-05; became first lieutenant, 1905; Wilberforce University, Ohio, teacher of military science, 1905-09; military attach, Monrovia, Liberia, 1909-11; tour of duty along Mexican border with Arizona, 1912-15; became captain and returned to Wilberforce University, 1915-17; became major, stationed in the Philippines, 1917-20; taught at Tuskegee Institute, Alabama, 1920-24, and became lieutenant colonel; instructor, Second Battalion, 372nd Regiment, Ohio National Guard, 1924-29; became colonel and escorted black Gold Star Mothers to Europe, 1929-30; returned to Tuskegee Institute, 1930-37; commanding officer, 369th Cavalry (Harlem Regiment) New York National Guard, 1937-40; promoted to brigadier general, 1940; assistant to inspector general, Washington, DC, 1940-41; commander, Fourth Cavalry Brigade, 1941; first retirement, 1941; inspector to black brigades and public relations, 1941-48; temporary ambassador to Liberia, 1947; second retirement, 1948. Creator of educational films and brochures on race relations.

Life's Work

Benjamin O. Davis was the first black general in the U.S. Army and a major force in the desegregation of the American armed services. During a career that spanned fifty years--from the Spanish-American War through World War II--Davis rose through the ranks despite rampant discrimination to become a respected leader and governmental adviser. Widely traveled, multilingual, and a diplomatic negotiator, Davis served as a mentor to the troops during World War II, visited regiments overseas to solve racial problems, advised General Dwight D. Eisenhower on integration, and trained black soldiers for their newly available combat duties. He also created films, brochures, and other educational tools on race relations for military and civilian use.

The euphoria over slavery's end had ebbed by the time Benjamin Davis was born in Washington, D.C., in 1877. In its place came an ugly form of discrimination that stemmed from white reluctance to share power and was fostered by the forced illiteracy of blacks that had been a major weapon of oppression. Neither problem was swiftly solved. Education was hindered by the desperate poverty of black students, who took menial jobs to support themselves rather than attend school. The pace of integration was equally sluggish; discrimination began to crystallize into legal segregation in public places, including the job market. An unofficially segregated school system developed, causing resentment in the black population.

Although Davis's father and mother were descended from slaves, both were literate and therefore able to fill posts as a government messenger and a nurse, respectively. They were also adamant that their three children use education as a key to the middle class, expecting them to attend college and become professionals. Young Benjamin felt otherwise. Captivated by soldiers' tales of the Civil War, he became an enthusiastic cadet in high school and later helped form a company of volunteers to participate in the Spanish-American War. At twenty-one years of age Davis gladly accepted a temporary position at the rank of lieutenant, rejoicing in the opportunity it gave him to spend a year in various army training camps.

In 1899 Davis enlisted as a private in the regular army's Ninth Cavalry. Sent to the Island of Samar in the Philippines, he rose to the rank of sergeant-major, the highest level an enlisted man could attain. Determined to rise higher, he set his sights on an officer's commission. Other black soldiers--whose own ambition had been dimmed by lifelong discrimination--predicted failure, certain that the officer examinations were not meant for blacks. Undeterred by their pessimism, Davis passed the tests in 1901 and became a second lieutenant to the Tenth Cavalry.

His next tour of duty took him to Fort Washakie in Wyoming. There, rising to the duties of post quartermaster, he earned reports describing him as "efficient" and "zealous"; at the same time, he and his new wife Elnora tasted the bitter social isolation of being the only black couple on the base.

In 1905 Davis was sent to Ohio's Wilberforce University, an all-black institution, to teach military science. He was unhappy with his new position for a variety of reasons. Wilberforce was a Christian school, and Davis was not religious. He was also dissatisfied with the meager three hours per week allocated to his course, and with what he saw as the students' lack of discipline and the principal's lack of support. Friction developed between Davis and the school authorities and remained throughout the four years he spent there.

In 1909 Davis left Wilberforce without regret, bound for Monrovia, Liberia, as a military attach. His responsibilities included providing Washington with information on military events, bringing back estimates on Liberian troop strength, and gauging the efficiency of the army. Davis reported that the Liberian forces were poorly trained and disorganized; he suggested a complete reorganization, with five American officers as administrators. Although Davis volunteered to remain in Liberia and personally take part in the reshuffling, American law prohibited soldiers from serving in the armed forces of any other nation. Discouraged about the prospects for creating an effective force in Liberia, in 1911 he asked to be relieved of his assignment.

By 1915 Davis had completed a tour of duty on the Mexican border with Arizona and achieved the rank of captain. He was sent back to Wilberforce University, which had had no military instructor for some years. In 1916 Elnora died of an embolism after the birth of their third child. The following year Davis was returned to active service at his own request and was posted in the Philippines, where he spent the duration of World War I as commanding officer of a supply troop. While Davis felt that he enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship with his superiors in the Philippines, Colonel John Heard, his regimental commander, did not agree. Noting that he opposed racial mixing among his officers, Heard requested in 1920 that Davis be replaced.

Davis had suspected for some time that discrimination was hindering his career. Upon returning to the United States he learned that in 1920 alone more than 70 black soldiers returning from European battle zones had been lynched by the recently revived Ku Klux Klan and others. The attackers were undeterred by the fact that the victims had honorably served their country, maintaining on the contrary that they were justified in ridding America of blacks probably corrupted by their years overseas.

Davis married his second wife, a Wilberforce teacher named Sadie Overton, in 1919 and was assigned a teaching post at Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama, the next year. He found his work at Tuskegee pleasant, and he enjoyed the promotion to lieutenant colonel that came through while he was there. At the same time, the level of responsibility in his new assignment was not commensurate with Davis's new rank, and he and his family were offended by the rampant racism they encountered in the South. He was glad to accept a new post as instructor to the Ohio National Guard in 1924.

In 1929 Davis was promoted to colonel and offered a much-desired opportunity to accompany two groups of black World War I widows and bereaved mothers to the war cemeteries of Europe. While Davis agreed with the black press and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People that the segregation of this project was distasteful, he had become convinced that his best chance of success in the fight against discrimination lay in working within the boundaries available to him. He therefore made the best of the opportunity, performing the assignment with conscientiousness and grace that earned him respect. Nevertheless, he was returned to the Tuskegee Institute in segregated Alabama in 1930, despite his own feelings and those of the black press that a colonel with thirty-five years of service should have more senior responsibilities.

Seven years later, in 1937, Davis was finally appointed commander of the 369th Cavalry New York National Guard, fulfilling the black community's wish to have its regiment commanded by black officers. Two years later he succeeded in persuading Chief of Staff George Marshall to convert this regiment from service roles to anti-aircraft units, thus demonstrating that black soldiers were equal to any military task.

In 1940, with German dictator Adolf Hitler's territorial ambitions becoming clear in Europe, U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt was campaigning for a third term in office. The black community's disgruntlement over discrimination in the armed forces was an important issue in the election; resentment was swelling about restriction of black army enlistees and even more about the navy's policy of accepting blacks only for mess duties. The Selective Services Act, formulated in 1937 and presented to the public in September of 1940, listed the following conditions: the proportion of blacks in the army would equal the African American population, black units would be established in both combat and noncombat posts, and there would be no mingling of races within the same regimental organizations, as this might be destructive to morale. Public dissatisfaction at this state of affairs mounted, buttressed by evidence that black soldiers were being stereotyped as inferior and were being unfairly denied promotions.

Roosevelt tried to placate his former supporters. Hastily he authorized the 63-year-old Davis's promotion as the army's first black brigadier general, overriding the military prohibition against promotions after the age of fifty-eight. Davis reached the official retirement age of sixty-four just a few months after his promotion but was immediately reactivated when the U.S. entered World War II. He was assigned to help the Washington-based inspector general coordinate the introduction of about 100,000 blacks into an army that had included only 3,640 black soldiers just two years earlier.

General Davis traveled around the United States guiding the troops, improving morale among black soldiers, settling disturbances, and learning all he could to improve race relations. Complaints from soldiers were funneled back to Washington, alerting Davis's superiors to such problems as the assignment of inferior officers to black units, segregation of blood plasma from black and white donors, and humiliating discrimination in officers' clubs, stores, and barber shops on army bases. Davis became a familiar figure in the black press, which followed his progress with interest. In addition to his other responsibilities, Davis became involved in producing an educational film about black soldiers called The Negro Soldier. Initially designed as a race relations tool for incoming white soldiers, the movie was eventually distributed through Hollywood, receiving such a favorable public reception that a sequel called Teamwork appeared in 1946.

In 1944 Davis was sent to the European war zone to help calm the rising tension of black soldiers, who objected to the obvious hypocrisy of the U.S. government in battling Hitler's racism toward Jews in Nazi Germany while condoning discrimination in its own fighting forces. Davis discovered an opportunity to benefit both troops and administrators when army sources informed him that only 79,000 black soldiers were fighting in the 504,000-strong overseas units, despite an alarming shortage of soldiers. Worse news was that these much-needed troops were serving in support roles, rather than in desperately needed combat positions. Davis suggested to General Eisenhower that these troops be allowed to volunteer for the previously all-white combat replacement program. He also recommended that the men be assigned to units on the basis of need, without reference to color. Although Eisenhower agreed to the essence of Davis's proposal, he preferred to follow existing segregation policy and directed that black units be grouped together into platoons and placed into white companies to fill combat needs.

After fifty years of military service, General Benjamin O. Davis was honored in a special retirement ceremony in the White House Rose Garden on July 20, 1948. President Harry S Truman presented Davis with a leather-bound scroll in honor of his service to the country and efforts on behalf of desegregation and equal opportunity in the military--Truman noted that as of 1948 there were more than 1,000 African American officers in the army, in contrast to the mere five that had been present during Davis's first year of service. (General Davis also had the honor of seeing his son, Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., follow his example to become the first black lieutenant general in the U.S. Air Force.) Shortly after the ceremony the White House issued an executive order that represented a monumental achievement. As quoted by Richard M. Dalfiume in his book Desegregation of the U.S. Armed Forces, the order stated: "There shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin."

Retirement did not mean idleness for the general. In 1951 he was sent to Liberia to represent the United States at the country's centennial celebrations, and later he served as a member of the American Battle Monuments Commission. His public life came to an end in 1960 as the result of poor eyesight and other health problems. Davis died of leukemia in 1970 at the age of 93.

Awards

Distinguished Service Medal, 1944; named Commander of the Order of the Star of Africa, 1944; Bronze Star, 1945; LL.D. from Atlanta University; French Croix de Guerre with Palm.

Further Reading

Books

• Dalfiume, Richard M., Desegregation of the U.S. Armed Forces, University of Missouri Press, 1969.
• Davis, Benjamin O., Jr., Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., American: An Autobiography, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991.
• Fletcher, Marvin E., America's First Black General: Benjamin O.
• Davis, Sr., 1880-1970, University Press of Kansas, 1989.
• Spiller, Roger J., editor, Dictionary of American Military Biography, Greenwood Press, 1984.

• Armed Forces, July 24, 1948.
• New York Times, October 14, 1942; July 15, 1948; July 21, 1948.
• Pentagram News, January 7, 1971.
• Washington Post, November 27, 1970.

— Gillian Wolf

Benjamin Oliver Davis Sr.
July 1, 1877(1877-07-01) – November 26, 1970 (aged 93)
Official DA Form 201 File Photo of BG Benjamin O. Davis, 1940
Place of birth	Washington, D.C.
Place of death	Chicago, Illinois
Place of burial	Arlington National Cemetery
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	U.S Army
Years of service	1898 – 1948
Rank	Brigadier General
Unit	9th Cavalry
Battles/wars	Spanish American War World War II
Awards	Distinguished Service Medal Bronze Star French Croix de Guerre Africa Star
Relations	Son — Gen. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., USAF

Brig. Gen. Benjamin O. Davis Sr. watches a Signal Corps crew erecting poles, somewhere in France. August 8, 1944

Brigadier General Benjamin Oliver Davis, Sr. (July 1, 1877 – November 26, 1970) was an American general and the father of Benjamin O. Davis Jr. He was the first African-American general in the United States Army.

Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., was born in Washington, D.C., on July 1, 1877. His biographer Marvin Fletcher (author of America's First Black General, Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., 1880-1970) has presented evidence of his birth records indicating that he was born in May 1880 and later lied about his age so that he could enlist in the Army without the permission of his parents. It is the earlier date that appears on his grave at Arlington National Cemetery, however. He was a student at Howard University when—as a result of the start of the War with Spain—he entered the military service on July 13, 1898 as a temporary first lieutenant of the 8th United States Volunteer Infantry. He was mustered out on March 6, 1899, and on June 18, 1899, he enlisted as a private in Troop I, U.S. 9th Cavalry Regiment (one of the original Buffalo Soldier regiments), of the Regular Army. He then served as corporal and squadron sergeant major, and on February 2, 1901, he was commissioned a second lieutenant of Cavalry in the Regular Army.

Contents 1 Military service 2 Promotions 3 Decorations and honors 4 See also 5 References

Military service

Benjamin Oliver Davis Sr. was born in Washington, D.C. on 1 July 1877 to Louis P. H. and Henrietta Davis. He attended M Street High School in Washington where he participated in the school’s cadet program. During the Spanish-American War, Davis briefly served in Company D, 1st Separate Battalion of the Washington D.C. National Guard. On 10 July 1898, Davis joined the 8th U.S. Volunteer Infantry Regiment as a first lieutenant of Company G. The 8th United States Volunteer Infantry was stationed at Chickamauga Park, Georgia, from October 1898 until the unit was disbanded in March 1899.

On 14 June 1899, Davis enlisted in the Regular Army. He was assigned to Troop I, 3rd Squadron, 9th Cavalry at Ft. Duchesne, Utah, first as the troop’s clerk and then as squadron sergeant major. In the spring of 1901, Troop I was assigned to the Philippines. In August 1901, he was assigned to Troop F, 10th Cavalry, where Davis assumed the duties of a second lieutenant after passing an officers' qualification test. Troop F returned to the United States in August 1902. Davis was then stationed at Fort Washakie, Wyoming, where he also served for several months with Troop M. In September 1905, he was assigned to Wilberforce University in Ohio as Professor of Military Science and Tactics, a post that he filled for four years.

In November 1909, shortly after being ordered to Regimental Headquarters, 9th Cavalry, Davis was reassigned for duty to Liberia. He left the United States for Liberia in April 1910, and served as a military attaché reporting on Liberia's military forces until October 1911. He returned to the United States in November 1911. In January 1912, Davis was assigned to Troop I, 9th Cavalry, stationed at Fort D. A. Russell, Wyoming. In 1913, the 9th Cavalry was assigned to patrol the Mexican-United States border.

In February 1915, Davis was again assigned to Wilberforce University as Professor of Military Science and Tactics. From 1917 to 1920, Davis was assigned to the 9th Cavalry at Camp Stotsenburg, Philippine Islands, as supply officer, commander of 3rd Squadron, and then of 1st Squadron. He reached the temporary rank of lieutenant colonel, but returned to the United States in March 1920 with the rank of captain.

Davis was assigned to the Tuskegee University, Alabama, as the Professor of Military Science and Tactics from 1920 to 1924. He then served for five years as an instructor with 2nd Battalion, 372nd Regiment, Ohio National Guard, in Cleveland, Ohio. In September 1929, Davis returned to Wilberforce University as Professor of Military Science and Tactics. He was assigned to the Tuskegee Institute in the early part of 1931, and remained there for six years as Professor of Military Science and Tactics. During the summer months of 1930 to 1933, Davis escorted pilgrimages of World War I Gold Star Mothers and Widows to the burial places of their loved ones in Europe.

In August 1937, Davis returned to Wilberforce University as Professor of Military Science and Tactics. Davis was assigned to the 369th Regiment, New York National Guard, during the summer of 1938, and took command of the regiment a short time later. Davis was promoted to Brigadier General on 25 October 1940, becoming the first African-American general in the United States Army.

Davis became Commanding General of 4th Brigade, 2nd Cavalry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas, in January 1941. About six months later, he was assigned to Washington, D.C. as an assistant in the Office of the Inspector General. While serving in the Office of the Inspector General, Davis also served on the Advisory Committee on Negro Troop Problems. From 1941 to 1944, Davis conducted inspection tours of African-American soldiers in the United States Army. From September to November 1942 and again from July to November 1944, Davis made inspection tours of African-American soldiers stationed in Europe.

On 10 November 1944, Davis was reassigned to work under Lieutenant General John C. H. Lee as Special Assistant to the Commanding General, Communications Zone, European Theater of Operations. He served with the General Inspectorate Section, European Theater of Operation (later the Office of the Inspector General on Europe) from January through May 1945. While serving in the European Theater of Operations, Davis was influential in the proposed policy of integration using replacement units.

After serving in the European Theater of Operations for more than a year, Davis returned to Washington, D.C. as Assistant to the Inspector General. In 1947 he was assigned as a Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Army. In this capacity, he was sent to Liberia in July 1947 as a representative of the United States for the African country’s centennial celebration. On 20 July 1948, after fifty years of military service, Davis retired in a public ceremony with President Harry S. Truman presiding.

From July 1953 through June 1961, he served as a member of the American Battle Monuments Commission. Davis died on 26 November 1970 at Great Lakes Naval Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Promotions

He was promoted to first lieutenant on March 30, 1905; to captain on December 24, 1915; to major (temporary) on August 5, 1917; and to lieutenant colonel (temporary) on May 1, 1918. He reverted to his permanent rank of captain on October 14, 1919, and was promoted to lieutenant colonel on July 1, 1920; to colonel on February 18, 1930; to brigadier general (temporary) on October 25, 1940. He was retired on July 31, 1941, and recalled to active duty with the rank of brigadier general the following day.

Decorations and honors

General Davis' U.S. military decorations included the Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) and Bronze Star. His DSM medal, awarded by General Order 10, dated February 22, 1945, stated that Benjamin O. Davis was awarded the DSM "for exceptionally meritorious service to the Government in a duty of great responsibility from June 1941 to November 1944." The War Department release issued about General Davis' DSM on February 11, 1945, included the following citation:

For exceptionally meritorious service to the Government in a duty of great responsibility from June, 1941, to November, 1944, as an Inspector of troop units in the field, and as special War Department consultant on matters pertaining to Negro troops. The initiative, intelligence and sympathetic understanding displayed by him in conducting countless investigations concerning individual soldiers, troop units, and components of the War Department brought about a fair and equitable solution to many important problems which have since become the basis of far-reaching War Department policy. His wise advice and counsel have made a direct contribution to the maintenance of soldier morale and troop discipline and has been of material assistance to the War Department and to responsible commanders in the field of understanding personnel matters as they pertain to the individual soldier.

Additionally, Davis was awarded an Honorary Degree of LL.D. from Atlanta University, Atlanta, Georgia. His foreign awards and honors include of the Croix de Guerre with Palm from France and the Grade of Commander of the Order of the Star of Africa from Liberia.

See also

World War II portal

• List of African American firsts

United States Army portal

References

• "Benjamin Oliver Davis, Sr. — The First African American General Officer in the Regular Army and in the U.S. Armed Forces". U.S. Army Center of Military History, United States Army. Archived from the original on 2007-06-29. http://web.archive.org/web/20070629163829/www.army.mil/cmh/topics/afam/davis.htm. 
• Fletcher, Marvin E. (1989). America's First Black General: Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., 1880-1970. Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas. 
• Lee, Ulysses (1966). The Employment of Negro Troops. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Army Center of Military History. 
• Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. Collection U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center Online Catalog

Persondata
NAME	Davis, Benjamin O., Sr.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	United States Army general; First African American general officer in the U.S. Army and in the U.S. Military
DATE OF BIRTH	July 1, 1877
PLACE OF BIRTH	Washington, D.C.
DATE OF DEATH	November 26, 1970
PLACE OF DEATH	Chicago, Illinois

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