On this day in 1959, Benjamin O. Davis Jr. was promoted to brigadier general, becoming the first African American general in the U.S. Air Force. A trailblazing pilot, officer, and administrator, Davis broke racial barriers in a military still grappling with segregation. He would later rise to the rank of major general, becoming the first African American to achieve that level in the Air Force.
Davis Jr. was the son of Benjamin O. Davis Sr., who made history as the first Black general in the U.S. Army, marking the Davis family as a powerful legacy of military excellence and perseverance against the odds.
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