February 23. 2005
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W B lack H istory M
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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.
Celebrating the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,
January 15,1929-April 4,1963.
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