[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 487 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 487

   Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that General 
 Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., should be recognized as a courageous warrior, 
          an extraordinary officer, and a great American hero.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 16, 2002

  Mr. Watts of Oklahoma submitted the following resolution; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that General 
 Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., should be recognized as a courageous warrior, 
          an extraordinary officer, and a great American hero.

Whereas in 1936, General Davis was the first African-American to graduate from 
        West Point Military Academy in the 20th century;
Whereas during his four years at West Point, he was officially ``silenced'' by 
        all cadets because he was African-American and not a single classmate 
        spoke to him except in the line of duty;
Whereas in spite of this racial injustice he graduated 35th in a class of 276 
        students;
Whereas in 1941 he joined 12 cadets in the first flying training program for 
        African-Americans at Tuskegee, Alabama, and in 1942 he received his 
        flying wings after becoming the first African-American officer to solo 
        an Army Air Corps aircraft;
Whereas during World War II, in 1943, he commanded the ``Tuskegee Airmen'' of 
        the 99th Pursuit Squadron and in 1944 he took command of the 332nd 
        Fighter Group and was deployed to Italy;
Whereas on June 9, 1944, then-Colonel Davis led 39 Thunderbolts escorting B-24s 
        to targets in Germany, taking on more than 100 German fighters and 
        destroying five Me-109s;
Whereas for his leadership and bravery on that mission he was awarded the 
        Distinguished Flying Cross;
Whereas he later commanded the 332nd Fighter Group, whose aircraft was the 
        distinctive ``Red Tail'' P-51 Mustang, and flew more than 15,000 sorties 
        against the Luftwaffe in which not one friendly bomber under the group's 
        protection was lost to enemy aircraft during escort missions;
Whereas his leadership of America's only all-African-American air unit of World 
        War II helped speed the integration of the Air Force;
Whereas in 1954 he became the first African-American to reach the rank of 
        Brigadier General in the United States Air Force;
Whereas when General Davis retired from the Air Force in 1970 as a Lieutenant 
        General, wearing three stars, he was the senior African-American officer 
        in the Armed Forces; and
Whereas in 1998, Lieutenant General Davis was awarded his fourth star, advancing 
        him to full General: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., having died on July 
4, 2002, America's day of independence, should be recognized for his 
achievement as one of America's most accomplished military officers, 
whose strength, determination, and character in the face of racial 
injustice and bigotry could not prevent him from serving with the 
highest honor and distinction for the country he so proudly loved.
                                 <all>