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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 23, 2005)
February 23. 2005 __________________ W B lack H istory M ______ o nth Page A5 Black History Month Military Heroes Earn Command Black soldiers break barriers to serve by R on W eber T he P ortland O bserver Throughout our nation’s history, black soldiers have stood out for their achieve ments under great adversity. Brilliant and heroic, the Tuskegee Air men never lost a single bomber during World War II. The black fighter pilot es corts destroyed nearly 300 enemy aircraft and severely damaged another 148 enemy planes. Sixty-six of these brave soldiers gave their lives so that white bomber pi lots could reach their targets. On the ground, heroes such as Ben jam in O. Davis and his son Benjamin Jr. both earned the rank of general, some thing unheard of for African Americans earl ier. The senior Davis scored 91 percent on an officer’s exam in 1901, thus becom ing a first lieutenant in the Army. Later he would assume the rank of general in 1940, the first black man to achieve this presti gious honor. W hile his father later would become the first African American to reach the rank of brigadier general, Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr. would become the second black Ameri can to achieve the same high command. The younger Davis faced extreme rac ism when he began his military career at West Point in 1932. Other than direct com mands and other military discussions he i'a s not spoken to or allowed to speak back to anyone. The horrible treatment almost crushed young Davis. However, with his father’s support and direction he made it through. Years later he was quoted as saying, “1 was able to develop mechanisms in my own mind of feeling sorry for these mis- Sherian Grace Cadoria was the top black female general in the U.S. Armed Forces when she retired in 1990. ter nearly four decades in military service to his country, he retired in 1970, showing no bitter ness about his treatment in the military. Rather, he used it as a tool to demonstrate the better side of human nature. A n o th e r A frican American to reach top status in the military was G e n e ra l D aniel “Chappie” James. Born in 1920, he became the first black four-star gen eral. He flew over 100 m issions the Korean War and 78 combat mis sions in the Vietnam War. During one mission in Vietnam, James and his men destroyed a record seven enemy Mig guided young men who represented the 21 ’s. General Roscoe Robinson Jr. was an cream of the nation who were willing to force me out of West Point just because I African American who achieved the rank was black.” of four-star general in most recent times, Not only did Davis’s perseverance only to be exceeded by another great bring him to graduate from the military African-American. Colin L. Powell who college, but he graduated in at the top of would retire from the military as Chairman his class (35th out of 276). Davis Jr. led black pilots in vicious battles throughout Eu rope and North Africa in World War II. In one two day period, the squadron shot down 12 Ger man fighter planes. This came as a surprise to many high-ranking military commanders who were led to believe, “the Negro type has not the proper reflexes to make a first-class fighter pilot.” Not only did black pilots throughout the war shoot down many enemy planes, but they also shot down this silly notion. During the Korean War, Davis Jr. assumed command of the 5 1 ’* Capt. Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr. climbs into an Fighter-Interceptor Wing. Af Advanced Trainer at Tuskegee, Ala. “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter. ” Daniel “Chappie" James was America's first black four-star general. of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Joining the ROTC “because he liked the uniform," Powell obtained straight A 's in military college. In 1962, Lieutenant Powell was sen, to Vietnam with a group of advi sors, where he received a Purple Hear,. He was sent back to Vietnam in 1968 and earned high honors for going to Korea after the Vietnam War, where he cleaned up the IM Battalion. 32nd Infantry Division, a unit besieged with racial and drug prob lems. Women generals are extremely rare in the service. Brigadier General Clara Leach Adams-Ender rose to become the Chief of the Army Nursing Corps. As one of 10 children bom to a tobacco farmer, she learned the value of hard work. One of her many military accomplishments was com manding 700 troops on a 100 mile march in Holland, where she walked every inch of / / ' the way with her troops. In 1992, B rigadier G eneral Sherian G race C adoria was the highest-ranking black woman in the armed forces. She came up through the ranks o f the M ili tary Police Corps Combat Support Arms. She was the first A frican-A m erican woman to com m and a crim inal investi gation brigade and was the first A fri can-A m erican woman director for the Joint C hiefs o f Staff. Because women were not allowed to have children in the Army until 1973, Cadoria never married. While this was a huge sacrifice, she neverregretted it, know ing that her success in the military could open up many pathways for other Afri can-American women who wanted to serve America. R on W eb er is a re g u la r sp e a k e r on A fric a n -A m e ric a n h is to ry a n d a fr e q u e n t c o n tr ib u to r to the P o rtla n d O b server. / ' Black History Month — Martin Luther King.Ir. In February we recognize America’s many great black pioneers and leaders. Representative Gary Hansen Representative Chip Shields Representative Steve Mtinh Representad e Jackie Dingfelder Represent) id rJeftMerkley Representative Mary Nolan Maggie Lena Walker (1867-1934) Maggie Lena Walker was the first black woman to be a bank president. She founded the Saint Luke Penny Savings Rank in Richmond, Virginia, in 1903. The bank began as an insurance society in which Walker became active at the time o f her marriage in 1886. When she retired because of ill-health in 1933, the bank was strong enough to survive the Depression, and is still in existence. Represented e Mitch Greenhck Greeting from members o f the Portland delegation to the State House o f Representatives. 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