Download or read book Benjamin O Davis Jr American written by Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. and published by Smithsonian Institution. This book was released on 2000-01-17 with total page 462 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Set against the backdrop of twentieth-century America, against the social fabric of segregation and the broad canvas of foreign war, Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.: American tells a compelling story of personal achievement against formidable odds. Born into an era when potential was measured according to race, Davis was determined to be judged by his character and deeds—to succeed as an American, and not to fail because of color. With twelve million citizens —the black population of the United States—pulling for him, Davis entered West Point in 1932, resolved to become an officer even though official military directives stated that blacks were decidedly inferior, lacking in courage, superstitious, and dominated by moral and character weaknesses. “Silenced” by his peers, for four years spoken to only in the line of duty, David did not falter. He graduated 35th in a class of 276 and requested assignment to the Army Air Corps, then closed to blacks. He went on to lead the 99th Pursuit Squadron and the 332nd Fighter Group—units known today as the Tuskegee Airmen—into air combat over North Africa and Italy during World War II. His performance, and that of his men, enabled the Air Force to integrate years before civilian society confronted segregation. Thereafter, in a distinguished career in the Far East, Europe, and the United States, Davis commanded both black and white units. Davis’s story is interwoven with often painful accounts of the discrimination he and his wife, Agatha, endured as a fact of American military and civilian life. Traveling across the country, unable to find food and lodging, they were often forced to make their way nonstop. Once on base, they were denied use of clubs and, in the early days, were never allowed to attend social activities. Though on-base problems were solved by President Truman’s integration of the military in 1949, conditions in the civilian community continued, eased but not erased by enactment of President Johnson’s legislative program in the 1960s. Overseas, however, where relations were unfettered by racism, the Davises enjoyed numerous friendships within the military and with such foreign dignitaries as President and Madame Chiang Kai-shek. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., retired in 1970 as a three-star general. His autobiography, capturing the fortitude and spirit with which he and his wife met the pettiness of segregation, bears out Davis’s conviction that discrimination—both within the military and in American society—reflects neither this nation’s ideals nor the best use of its human resources.
Download or read book Benjamin O Davis Jr American written by Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. and published by Smithsonian Institution. This book was released on 2016-04-19 with total page 442 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Set against the backdrop of twentieth-century America, against the social fabric of segregation and the broad canvas of foreign war, Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.: American tells a compelling story of personal achievement against formidable odds. Born into an era when potential was measured according to race, Davis was determined to be judged by his character and deeds—to succeed as an American, and not to fail because of color. With twelve million citizens —the black population of the United States—pulling for him, Davis entered West Point in 1932, resolved to become an officer even though official military directives stated that blacks were decidedly inferior, lacking in courage, superstitious, and dominated by moral and character weaknesses. “Silenced” by his peers, for four years spoken to only in the line of duty, David did not falter. He graduated 35th in a class of 276 and requested assignment to the Army Air Corps, then closed to blacks. He went on to lead the 99th Pursuit Squadron and the 332nd Fighter Group—units known today as the Tuskegee Airmen—into air combat over North Africa and Italy during World War II. His performance, and that of his men, enabled the Air Force to integrate years before civilian society confronted segregation. Thereafter, in a distinguished career in the Far East, Europe, and the United States, Davis commanded both black and white units. Davis’s story is interwoven with often painful accounts of the discrimination he and his wife, Agatha, endured as a fact of American military and civilian life. Traveling across the country, unable to find food and lodging, they were often forced to make their way nonstop. Once on base, they were denied use of clubs and, in the early days, were never allowed to attend social activities. Though on-base problems were solved by President Truman’s integration of the military in 1949, conditions in the civilian community continued, eased but not erased by enactment of President Johnson’s legislative program in the 1960s. Overseas, however, where relations were unfettered by racism, the Davises enjoyed numerous friendships within the military and with such foreign dignitaries as President and Madame Chiang Kai-shek. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., retired in 1970 as a three-star general. His autobiography, capturing the fortitude and spirit with which he and his wife met the pettiness of segregation, bears out Davis’s conviction that discrimination—both within the military and in American society—reflects neither this nation’s ideals nor the best use of its human resources.
Download or read book Benjamin O Davis Jr Air Force General Tuskegee Airmen Leader written by Sari Earl and published by ABDO Publishing Company. This book was released on 2010-01-01 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This title examines the remarkable life of Benjamin O. Davis Jr. Readers will learn about Davis's family background, childhood, education, military career, and societal contributions. Covered in detail are Davis's leadership roles at the Tuskegee Institute and in the military during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Color photos, detailed maps, and informative sidebars accompany engaging text. Features include a timeline, facts, additional resources, web sites, a glossary, a bibliography, and an index. Military Heroes is a series in Essential Library, an imprint of ABDO Publishing Company.
Download or read book America s First Black General written by Marvin Fletcher and published by . This book was released on 1989 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Promoted to brigadier general at the start of World War II, Davis headed a special section that monitored black military units at home and overseas, investigated an increasing number of racial disturbances, and bolstered the black soldier's morale. He was largely responsible for persuading the Army to try a limited form of integration. The success of that effort led to a federal mandate for the integration of the entire American armed forces."--
Download or read book Black Liberation red Scare written by Gerald Horne and published by University of Delaware Press. This book was released on 1994 with total page 476 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Black Liberation/Red Scare is a study of an African-American Communist leader, Ben Davis, Jr. (1904-64). Though it examines the numerous grassroots campaigns that he was involved in, it is first and foremost a study of the man and secondarily a study of the Communist party from the 1930s to the 1960s. By examining the public life of an important party leader, Gerald Horne uniquely approaches the story of how and why the party rose - and fell." "Ben Davis, Jr., was the son of a prominent Atlanta publisher and businessman who was also the top African-American leader of the Republican party until the onset of the Great Depression. Davis was trained for the black elite at Morehouse, Amherst, and Harvard Law School. After graduating from Harvard, he joined the Communist party, where he remained as one of its most visible leaders for thirty years. In 1943, after being endorsed by his predecessor, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., he was elected to the New York City Council from Harlem and subsequently reelected by a larger margin in 1945. Davis received support from such community figures as NAACP leader Roy Wilkins, boxer Joe Louis, and musician Duke Ellington. While on the council Davis fought for rent control and progressive taxation and struggled against transit fare hikes and police brutality." "With the onset of the Red Scare and the Cold War, Davis - like the Communist party itself - was marginalized. The Cold War made it difficult for the U.S. to compete with Moscow for the hearts and minds of African-Americans while they were subjected to third-class citizenship at home. Yet in return for civil rights concessions, African-American organizations such as the NAACP were forced to distance themselves from figures such as Ben Davis. In 1949 he was ousted unceremoniously (and perhaps illegally) from the City Council. He was put on trial, jailed in 1951, and not released until 1956, when the civil rights movement was gathering momentum. His friendship with the King family, based upon family ties in Atlanta, was the ostensible cause for the FBI surveillance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and COINTELPRO, the counterintelligence program of the FBI, which was aimed initially at the CP-USA, made sure to keep a close eye on Davis as well. But when the civil rights movement reached full strength in the 1960s Davis's controversial appearances at college campuses helped to set the stage for a new era of activism at universities." "Davis died in 1964. According to Horne, the time has now come when he, along with his good friend Paul Robeson and W. E. B. DuBois, should be regarded as a premier leader of African-Americans and the U.S. Left during the twentieth century."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Download or read book The Tuskegee Airmen written by Charles E. Francis and published by . This book was released on 1956 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Here is told for the first time in detail the story behind the development of Tuskegee Army Base as a training center for Negro pilots."--inside dust jacket flap.
Download or read book Keep Your Airspeed Up written by Harold H. Brown and published by University of Alabama Press. This book was released on 2017-08-08 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Inspiring memoir of Colonel Harold H. Brown, one of the 930 original Tuskegee pilots, whose dramatic wartime exploits and postwar professional successes contribute to this extraordinary account. Keep Your Airspeed Up: The Story of a Tuskegee Airman is the memoir of an African American man who, through dedication to his goals and vision, overcame the despair of racial segregation to great heights, not only as a military aviator, but also as an educator and as an American citizen. Unlike other historical and autobiographical portrayals of Tuskegee airmen, Harold H. Brown’s memoir is told from its beginnings: not on the first day of combat, not on the first day of training, but at the very moment Brown realized he was meant to be a pilot. He revisits his childhood in Minneapolis where his fascination with planes pushed him to save up enough of his own money to take flying lessons. Brown also details his first trip to the South, where he was met with a level of segregation he had never before experienced and had never imagined possible. During the 1930s and 1940s, longstanding policies of racial discrimination were called into question as it became clear that America would likely be drawn into World War II. The military reluctantly allowed for the development of a flight-training program for a limited number of African Americans on a segregated base in Tuskegee, Alabama. The Tuskegee Airmen, as well as other African Americans in the armed forces, had the unique experience of fighting two wars at once: one against Hitler’s fascist regime overseas and one against racial segregation at home. Colonel Brown fought as a combat pilot with the 332nd Fighter Group during World War II, and was captured and imprisoned in Stalag VII A in Moosburg, Germany, where he was liberated by General George S. Patton on April 29, 1945. Upon returning home, Brown noted with acute disappointment that race relations in the United States hadn’t changed. It wasn’t until 1948 that the military desegregated, which many scholars argue would not have been possible without the exemplary performance of the Tuskegee Airmen.
Download or read book Communist Councilman from Harlem written by Benjamin J. Davis and published by International Publishers Co. This book was released on 1991 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Original Foreword by Henry Winston. Introduction by Simon W. Gerson for this new edition of Ben Davis's 1960s book. Written while Ben Davis served prison time for a Smith Act conviction later ruled unconstitutional. Index. Notes.
Download or read book Half American written by Matthew F. Delmont and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2024-01-09 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The definitive history of World War II from the African American perspective, by award-winning historian and civil rights expert Winner of the 2023 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award in Nonfiction A New York Times Notable Book of 2022 A 2022 Book of the Year from TIME, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and more More than one million Black soldiers served in World War II. Black troops were at Normandy, Iwo Jima, and the Battle of the Bulge, serving in segregated units while waging a dual battle against inequality in the very country for which they were laying down their lives. The stories of these Black veterans have long been ignored, cast aside in favor of the myth of the “Good War” fought by the “Greatest Generation.” And yet without their sacrifices, the United States could not have won the war. Half American is World War II history as you’ve likely never read it before. In these pages are stories of Black military heroes and civil rights icons such as Benjamin O. Davis Jr., the leader of the legendary Tuskegee Airmen, who fought to open the Air Force to Black pilots; Thurgood Marshall, the chief lawyer for the NAACP, who investigated and publicized violence against Black troops and veterans; poet Langston Hughes, who worked as a war correspondent for the Black press; Ella Baker, the civil rights leader who advocated on the home front for Black soldiers, veterans, and their families; and James G. Thompson, the twenty-six-year-old whose letter to a newspaper laying bare the hypocrisy of fighting against fascism abroad when racism still reigned at home set in motion the Double Victory campaign. Their bravery and patriotism in the face of unfathomable racism is both inspiring and galvanizing. An essential and meticulously researched retelling of the war, Half American honors the men and women who dared to fight not just for democracy abroad but for their dreams of a freer and more equal America.
Download or read book The Employment of Negro Troops written by Ulysses Lee and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2015-08-12 with total page 762 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recognizing that the story of Negro participation in military service during World War II was of national interest as well as of great value for future military planning, the Assistant Secretary of War in February 1944 recommended preparation of a book on this subject. The opportunity to undertake it came two years later with the assignment to the Army's Historical Division of the author, then a captain and a man highly qualified by training and experience to write such a work. After careful examination of the sources and reflection Captain Lee concluded that it would be impracticable to write a comprehensive and balanced history about Negro soldiers in a single volume. His plan, formally approved in August 1946, was to focus his own work on the development of Army policies in the use of Negroes in military service and on the problems associated with the execution of these policies at home and abroad, leaving to the authors of other volumes in the Army's World War II series, then taking shape, the responsibility for covering activities of Negroes in particular topical areas. This definition of the author's objective is needed in order to understand why he has described his work "in no sense a history of Negro troops in World War II." Writing some years ago, he explained: "The purpose of the present volume is to bring together the significant experience of the Army in dealing with an important national question: the full use of the human resources represented by that 10 percent of national population that is Negro. It does not attempt to follow, in narrative form, the participation of Negro troops in the many branches, commands, and units of the Army. . . . A fully descriptive title for the present volume, in the nineteenth century manner, would read: 'The U.S. Army and Its Use of Negro Troops in World War II: Problems in the Development and Application of Policy with Some Attention to the Results, Public and Military.'" Thus, in accordance with his objective, the author gives considerably more attention to the employment of Negroes as combat soldiers than to their use as service troops overseas. Even though a large majority of the Negroes sent overseas saw duty in service rather than in combat units, their employment in service forces did not present the same number or degree of problems.
Download or read book African Americans and the Pacific War 1941 1945 written by Chris Dixon and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2018-09-20 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dixon provides the first comprehensive study of African American military and social experiences during the Pacific War.
Download or read book A Train written by Charles W. Dryden and published by University of Alabama Press. This book was released on 2002-06-25 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The autobiography of a black American graduate of Tuskegee Army Flying School who served as a pilot in the 99th Pursuit Squadron, offering a personal account of what it was like to be a black pilot in WWII and the Korean War. For general readers. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Download or read book Blacks in the Army Air Forces During World War II written by Alan M. Osur and published by . This book was released on 1977 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is based upon a Ph. D. dissertation written by an Air Force officer who studied at the University of Denver. Currently an Associate Professor of History at the Air Force Academy, Major Osur's account relates how the leadership in the War Department and the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) tried to deal with the problem of race and the prejudices which were reflected in the bulk of American society. It tells a story of black racial protests and riots which such attitudes and discrimination provoked. The author describes many of the discriminatory actions taken against black airmen, whose goal was equality of treatment and opportunities as American citizens. He also describes the role of black pilots as they fought in the Mediterranean theater of operations against the Axis powers. In his final chapters, he examines the continuing racial frictions within the Army Air Forces which led to black servicemen protests and riots in 1945 at several installations.
Download or read book The Tuskegee Airmen Chronology written by Daniel Haulman and published by University of Georgia Press. This book was released on 2018-01-01 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African American pilots in American military service, is a complex tapestry with many story threads, such as the training story, the 99th Fighter Squadron story, the 332d Fighter Group Red Tail story, and the 477th Bombardment Group story. One story did not end when another began. The stories unfolded simultaneously. For example, while some Tuskegee Airmen were learning to fly at Tuskegee, others were flying combat missions overseas, while still others were being arrested for resisting segregation at another base. This Tuskegee Airmen Chronology links the stories together, filling a crucial historiographical niche. All the important events in Tuskegee Airmen history are included, such as the graduation of each flying class at Tuskegee Army Air Field, the activation and movement of each Tuskegee Airmen flying unit, the movement to and from each base, the award of each of the 96 Tuskegee Airmen Distinguished Flying Crosses, the achievement of each of the 112 Tuskegee Airmen aerial victories over enemy aircraft, a brief summary of every one of the 312 missions the Tuskegee Airmen flew for the Fifteenth Air Force, all the important Tuskegee Airmen leaders, and when each assumed command of his flying unit, the transition to each new aircraft type, and each Tuskegee Airmen who was shot down, disappeared, was captured, or returned. Readers should find it a unique and valuable tool for understanding and appreciating the varieties of Tuskegee Airmen experience as they distinguished themselves in the air and on the ground and forged new frontiers for equal opportunity. Dr. Dan Haulman the leading authority on the Tuskegee Airmen, a sought-after presenter on the topic. The chronology format is unique and comprehensive; it significantly adds to the published literature about the Airmen. The Tuskegee Airmen Chronology is being released at time of increased interest in Tuskegee Airmen history. The Tuskegee Airmen Chronology: A Detailed Timeline of the Red Tails and Other Black Pilots of World War II provides a unique year-by-year overview of the fascinating story of the Tuskegee Airmen, embracing important events in the formation of the first military training for black pilots in United States history, the phases of their training at various airfields in Tuskegee and elsewhere, their continued training at other bases around the United States, and their deployment overseas, first to North Africa and then to Sicily and Italy. The book is the fifth on the subject by Airmen expert Dr. Daniel Haulman. The Tuskegee Airmen are best known for flying P-47s and red-tailed P-51s to escort B-17 and B-24 bombers deep into enemy territory. Their exemplary performance proved conclusively that given the opportunity and resources black men could fly and fight in combat every bit as well as their white counterparts. They lost fewer bombers than the other fighter groups, and they shot down 112 enemy aircraft. The Tuskegee Airmen Chronology also includes abundant information on the many Tuskegee Airmen who were not fighter pilots, including B-25 bomber crews who trained in the U.S., and the thousands of Tuskegee Airmen who served as ground support. They fought two enemies, Nazis in Europe and racism at home, and through their dedication and efforts earned a hard-won double victory.
Download or read book Air Force Combat Units of World War II written by Maurer Maurer and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 1961 with total page 520 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Makers of the United States Air Force written by John L. Frisbee and published by U.S. Government Printing Office. This book was released on 1987 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Om 12 ledere, der repræsenterer forskellige sider af lederskabet og udfordringerne i udviklingen af det amerikanske flyvevåben gennem et halvt århundrede.
Download or read book Integration of the Armed Forces 1940 1965 written by Morris J. MacGregor and published by e-artnow. This book was released on 2020-06-18 with total page 628 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In the quarter century that followed American entry into World War II, the nation's armed forces moved from the reluctant inclusion of a few segregated Negroes to their routine acceptance in a racially integrated military establishment. Nor was this change confined to military installations. By the time it was over, the armed forces had redefined their traditional obligation for the welfare of their members to include a promise of equal treatment for black servicemen wherever they might be. In the name of equality of treatment and opportunity, the Department of Defense began to challenge racial injustices deeply rooted in American society. For all its sweeping implications, equality in the armed forces obviously had its pragmatic aspects. In one sense it was a practical answer to pressing political problems that had plagued several national administrations. In another, it was the services' expression of those liberalizing tendencies that were permeating American society during the era of civil rights activism. But to a considerable extent the policy of racial equality that evolved in this quarter century was also a response to the need for military efficiency. So easy did it become to demonstrate the connection between inefficiency and discrimination that, even when other reasons existed, military efficiency was the one most often evoked by defense officials to justify a change in racial policy."_x000D_ Morris J. MacGregor, Jr., received the A.B. and M.A. degrees in history from the Catholic University of America. He continued his graduate studies at the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Paris on a Fulbright grant. Before joining the staff of the U.S. Army Center of Military History in 1968 he served for ten years in the Historical Division of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
