[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 44 (Wednesday, April 20, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 20, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
  PRESENTATION OF HADDAWAY MEDAL FOR AVIATION TO LT. GEN. BENJAMIN O. 
                               DAVIS, JR.

  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, this morning I would like to pay 
tribute to Lt. Gen. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.
  Mr. President, as chairman of the board of the Frontiers of Flight 
Museum in Dallas, and as a member of the Armed Services Committee, I 
was proud to present today the George Edward Haddaway Medal for 
Achievement in Aviation to Lt. Gen. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.
  Mr. President, General Davis had an exemplary military career, rising 
from plebe at West Point to lieutenant general in the Air Force. He won 
his commission in 1936, but was initially denied entry into the Air 
Corps because of his race. He served in the infantry until 1940, when 
President Roosevelt created a black flying unit in Tuskegee, AL. 
General Davis won his wings and took command of the first black fighter 
unit in the Army Air Force, the 99th pursuit squadron. Although many 
predicted failure, the 99th fought valiantly in the skies over Sicily 
and Southern Italy in the P-40.
  General Davis later commanded the 332d fighter group in North Africa 
with three more all-black fighter squadrons flying P-47s and later P-
51s. His units flew more than 15,000 sorties; destroying 111 enemy 
aircraft, 57 locomotives, and a German naval vessel. Their aerial 
victories over the enemy--as well as their aggressiveness, teamwork, 
and courage--silenced their critics. Ninety-five of his pilots won the 
Distinguished Flying Cross, and more than 800 Air Medals were earned in 
combat. General Davis himself earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and 
the Silver Star for heroism.
  More than these honors, Mr. President, the record of which General 
Davis and his men are most proud is that no bomber under their group's 
escort protection was ever lost to enemy fighters.
  After the war, General Davis commanded the all-black 477th composite 
group in Ohio, combining bombers and fighters. His leadership and the 
achievements of his men in combat were a powerful factor in President 
Truman's integration of the Armed Services in 1948. The Air Force made 
General Davis its first black general officer in 1954, and he served in 
command positions with the 13th Air Force in the Philippines, the 
United Nations command in Korea, and strike command in the United 
States. He retired from active duty in 1970 to become director of 
public safety for the city of Cleveland.
  But a year later, as the world experienced a rash of airline 
hijackings, General Davis was recalled to Washington to become Director 
of Civil Aviation Security and then Assistant Secretary of 
Transportation for Safety and Consumer Affairs.
  Mr. President, I was Acting Chairman of the National Transportation 
Safety Board a few years later, and I know the complexity of the 
transportation bureaucracy and the airline community. I am especially 
impressed, therefore, that during his 5-year tenure hijackings in the 
50 States dropped to zero.
  For his four decades of selfless Federal service and for visionary 
leadership of extraordinary high quality, Mr. President, I was proud to 
award this valiant airman the Haddaway Medal for Achievement in 
Aviation.
  I just want to say that yesterday at the ceremony there were several 
members of the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of Americans that are as 
patriotic as I have ever met. General Davis was one of the most 
impressive people I have ever met, and I was so proud to be able to 
give the award for the Frontiers of Flight Museum to Gen. Benjamin O. 
Davis, Jr., a great American.

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