Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.
Benjamin Oliver Davis, Sr. (1877-1970)
Army officer, educator, government official; born in Washington, D.C. Father of Gen. Benjamin 0. Davis, Jr.. of the U.S. Air Force. Davis attended Howard University (Washington. D.C.), after which he enlisted as a private in the Regular Army in 1899 (after a year in the infantry during the war with Spain).He served for two years in the Philippines, and in 1901 he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the cavalry.
In the following years, Davis served in various posts in the United States, until he was sent to Monrovia. Liberia, as military attache, a post he held until 1912.
He joined and rejoined the faculty of Wilberforce University (Wilberforce. Ohio) several times throughout his career, teaching military science both there and at Tuskegee Institute (Tuskegee Institute. Ala.). Rising in rank through the years.
Davis was promoted to major during World War I and to full colonel in 1930. He was further promoted to brigadier general under President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940, the first African American to attain that rank in the army.
After his retirement in 1941, Davis was recalled to active duty to serve as special advisor to the commander of the European Theater (ETO) during World War II and as assistant to the inspector general in Washington, D.C. Davis finally retired from the Armed Forces in 1948.
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