Air Force Academy names airfield
for black military pioneer,
Tuskegee Airmen commander
Washington Times,
by
Mike Glenn
Original Article
Posted By: Ribicon,
11/3/2019 5:38:26 PM
The Army had two black infantry officers in 1936 when Benjamin O. Davis Jr. graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He was one of them and his father was the other. Now the Air Force—where he later became a legend as commander of the famed Tuskegee Airmen in World War II—is honoring the late Gen. Davis by naming their airfield at the U.S. Air Force Academy after him. Davis was “instrumental in driving this institution towards a much more diverse and a much more inclusive population, reducing attrition rates of minorities and crucial in developing the plan
Reply 1 - Posted by:
chumley 11/3/2019 6:15:06 PM (No. 226313)
The AF hasn't changed since I retired. They could have named it the same thing, with the goal to name it after a great and groundbreaking pilot. But no, they named it after him because they just wanted a black guy. Might as well name it Bill Cosby.
Thirty years ago they had one of the Tuskegee airmen come to our site to give talks. I had hoped to hear stories about fighting Germans and winning wars. Nope. It was a hate whitey thing that I couldn't get out of quick enough. I'm sure it was what they hired him to say.
10 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Folsomguy 11/3/2019 6:22:11 PM (No. 226316)
#1 I could not disagree more. He was a great man. This makes me happy. His son went through pilot training when I did back 1969. Could not be more deserving.
8 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
poliposter 11/3/2019 6:40:36 PM (No. 226329)
Wait, #1, are you comparing General Davis to Bill Cosby? Why? What do they have in common other than skin color? And no one said that #3, except you.
6 people like this.
Why not name it after Uncle Ben... Got something against rice? Racist!
1 person likes this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
lakerman1 11/3/2019 7:13:10 PM (No. 226352)
True story.
I was stationed at Weisbaden Air Base, Germany, 1958-1960. I played football at Hahn AB Germany in 1958, and was reassigned to Weisbaden in December, 1958.
I came down with mononucleosis in the summer of 1959, couldn't play football that year, so I was a volunteer assistant coach on a team of dependent boys, ages 8-12. (They called it Pop Warner league, but it wasn't. It had a maximum weight limit of 120 pounds, which was stupid, given the fact that we had small kids playing.)
The head coach, a major, (who may have been coaching so his son could play quarterback inadequately) one day asked me if I would take some of the players home to dependent quarters in Weisbaden. And he gave me the keys to his large Ford station wagon.
I loaded about 8 boys into the Ford, drove to the dependent housing, which was segregated by rank. And we had one black boy, quiet and well mannered. I told the boys to call out when I reached their area. And I made stops at NCO housing, junior officer housing, field grade officer housing, and had one boy, the black one, remaining in the Ford.
"Did I miss your quarters?" I asked?
"No, Coach- that's where I live, at the top of the hill."
The boy was the son of General Davis.
I wonder if he remembers those days in Weisbaden..
(General Davis came to the games, dressed in civilian clothes, never made an attempt to pull rank for his son's playing time.)
A disproportionate number of Tuskegee Airmen came from Pennsylvania, and Public TV here did an excellent show on them, interviewing them in their old age. I have enormous respect for them. They were remarkable men, who overcame huge obstacles to achieve great things.
20 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
chumley 11/3/2019 8:24:11 PM (No. 226371)
2nd post but I must clarify my poor wording. My complaint was not that it was named after General Davis. He was a great and deserving man. My complaint was that it was named after General Davis because he was black, not because he was great. For Air Force virtue signaling purposes any black would have been fine.
9 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
Nevadadad46 11/3/2019 9:46:34 PM (No. 226385)
And only 70 years later, they give this man the honor he earned!
4 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
msavalla 11/3/2019 11:31:32 PM (No. 226417)
About time. Black military heroes have waited long enough for their just due.
1 person likes this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
DVC 11/4/2019 2:05:31 AM (No. 226454)
I had a chance to briefly meet Gen. Davis and hear him speak years ago. I was impressed by the man.
3 people like this.
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