European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 9, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Hard Road up the ladder for former Gen. Benjamin 0. Davis or. Racism was a brutal reality by Judith Weinraub Washington Post plebe summer,932. The United states military Academy West Point. A a d dressed in lightweight Slacks and Shortsleeve shirts pairs of cadets whirl awkwardly around the floor of their ballroom dancing class a except Jor one tall straight backed Young Man who dances alone he swims alone too and will never receive his red Cross lifesaving certificate for no one is willing to be his buddy. And he eats alone for no matter where hels seated no one will speak to him. During the four years that he is at West Point no one Speaks to him except in the line of duty. A Why because Cadet Ben Davis is Black. And in 1932 the . Military academies did not Welcome cultural diversity. A. Quot i could t believe that i would be treated the Way i was treated Quot says retired air Force it. Gen Benjamin o. Davis or. Quot if Ever a Man went to West Point with ideals i was it. Boy did i have ideals. Did i believe in duty Honor country. Did i believe that cadets were the greatest eople on the face of the Earth. I believed All  a for a moment it is silent in his Rosslyn apartment 1 overlooking the Potomac the White House the Capitol a. Just thinking about those Days is still painful so painful that for years the idea of reliving them seemed impossible a to contemplate. And that s what writing an autobiography involved no matter that he  first Black in this Century to  West Point the first Black three Star general in the air Force a to him Thoss firsts represent a segregating divisive Way of whirling. Quot there was just too much pain and suffering in my background Quot he says. Quot i did no to want to have anything to do with  a. When Ben Davis or. Was Young he had two great. Passions Pride in the achievements of his father Benjamin o. Davis sr., and a desire to Fly. He would Honor them both. Quot. Davis or. Was a first lieutenant in the . Army when his Only son was born. His 50-year military career was fraught with a frustration born of the army s conviction that a Black Man could not  not command White soldiers. Not in combat. Not in peacetime not at All. As his father was Moi a from Black teaching Post to. Black National guard unit and Back again Davis jr., his two Sisters and after his Mother died his Stepmother would watch that frustration mount and wonder if the world would Ever change. For Davis or. Recognition did t come until 1940, when at 63 he was promoted by Franklin d. Roosevelt to the rank of brigadier general so in the summer of 926, when Davis or. Paid a barnstormer at Bolling fab. D.c$5 to take his son up As a passenger r people thought he had lost his mind. Quot that was a lot of. Money in those Days Quot says Davis. Quot and we never. Understood it because he was a close Man with a  but Davis or. Must have understood something about his 14-year-old son. And even though Davis or. Can no longer remember what the flight was like he remembers the incredible feeling of being up in the air looking Dowson Washington and his sudden determination to become an aviator. _ a when at 17 he was still resolved to become a Pilot his parents arranged for him to move to Chicago in order to. Be eligible for an appointment to West Point. The Only Black representative in Congress Alonzo Parham was a  Illinois by july 1,1932, he was enrolled at West Point. _ there was no reason to assume that the still segregated army would train him to be a Pilot. There was no reason to assume he would escape his fathers a frustrations. But Davis knew he was smart and Strong Able and ambitious. Quot As a matter of fact Quot Davis says ruefully Quot i was fool enough to believe that i could become a Cadet officer because i knew i was As Good As Many of . A. A a a. A if you talk to a Good Many  cadets today they. Will Tell you that what i am relating did t happen. The silencing did no to happen Quot says Davis. Quot and they Are. Technically Correct because silence was imposed by the. Honor committee of the corps of cadets for violations of a Honor. Well,1 did t have any violations of  a a a when he first arrived at West Point no one treated him differently a though admittedly his room assignment was Peculiar. He lived alone in a Large room designed for Ait least two cadets. But on the third night he was there a Knock on his door alerted him to a meeting in the basement. When he got there he realized the meeting was about him. Quot what Are we going to do about the. Nigger Quot was the question under discussion. He hastily retreated to his room. _ Quot from that time on if was that Way Quot he says. Quot they agreed among themselves that i was to be treated the Way they would treat a Nigger rather than As a human being. And it was just As though the Honor committee had imposed silence upon me As an  sunday night through saturday noon like every plebe he was Busy with his academic work athletics the routine of being a Cadet.  �.,� Quot there Wasny to any time for me to sit Back and feel sorry for myself Quot he says. Quot instead if you can believe it i was a Able to develop mechanisms in my own mind of feeling sorry for these misguided Young men who represented the Cream of the nation who were willing to Force me out of West Point just because i was Blacken weekends he ran Cross country or borrowed a horse from the stables or stayed in his room and read. He was excluded from All social events. A Quot i done to know what to say about it except that it was a hotbed of racism. There was another  who came along a couple of years after i did. They forced him out but they could t Force me out. I gave them no basis it for discharging me. Academically i had no problems disciplinary problems none. I just was t going to be forced  a As Davis approached graduation the superintendent of the Academy realized that the army faced a potential problem. Davis grades a 35th in a class of 276 a entitled him to select the Branch of the service he went int but How could they accommodate his desire to be a Pilot  t any Black units in the air corps. After conferring with the chief of infantry in Washington the superintendent proposed a Quot plan for the Arm Yojae saved from me and me to be saved   Quot the superintendent s plan was neat and intriguing Quot a says Davis. He would apply for a commission in the \ infantry and in particular fort b Enning ga., where there were Black troops and where he could take the company officers course. Then he could be eligible for and attached to a base with Black National guard units near a Fine Law school. And then he could resign from the army. And go into  the Only problem Quot says Davis Quot was that i wanted to Fly . What changed his Fate was history and the need Quot for a. Pilots during world War ii. Quot it was All by Chance Quot he says. Quot political developments caused the War department to be directed by the president to form the 99th Pursuit. Squadron Quot he says referring to the Black flying unit he commanded. Quot and then i went to Tuskegee army Airfield c where was trained As a . Davis is proud of the Dlack flying men he served with at Tuskegee and in particular of the Success of the All Black 99th Pursuit Squadron and the 332nd fighter group he led into air combat Over North Africa and Italy during the War. Quot these two units in combat operations demonstrated that they could perform equally As Well As Whites Quot he says. Quot so their actions were terribly important. And the congressional leadership could stick its neck out because they had Confidence that we could  Al waste newfound conf Denee in Black airmen Bavis thinks that enabled the air Force a filch was the newest bran Crof the military it was created in 1947 to become the first to integrate. That was May 1949 when under the direction of president Harry s. Truman the Usan issued air Force letter 35-3. From that Point on All the men who to. Ha<3 been grouped on predominantly White bases in Allback Quot of squadrons Quot were reassigned  White units. Davis is still astounded at the Speed with which Black airmen were moved Quot into Barracks occupied by White people and mess Halls where a White people , a year later he recalls there was t a single Black unit in the . Air Force. A a. Quot it was just like that Quot he says Quot like night turned to Day Quot the striking thing about Davis a autobiography Benjamino. Davis jr., american smithsonian institution presses its non judgmental tone in describing situations of inhumanity racism and cruelty a a. Quot i m really not mad at anybody Quot he says. Quot i Long ago developed the rather Calm attitude toward things that happen Tome As an individual. But on the other hand i Don t have a Calm attitude toward the evidence of racism that still exists in the United states. I Don t have a Calm attitude about the fact that our government Hasni to. A improved the Jot of minorities. No. In a complaining about racism. I m complaining about the attitudes of  these United states toward their fellow  when Davis is questioned about the disproportionate number of Blacks in today s military he says Quot they Are in danger where they Are. But a and this is one very great big but a they have a tremendous Opportunity to prove themselves and prove to the United states the value of Black people to the armed services. And when they do that they will reap the rewards for their efforts just As the Tuskegee airmen reaped the rewards and pointed the in 1954 at the age of 41, col. Benjamin o. Davis or. Above was appointed a brigadier general in the air Force by president Eisenhower. Davis father Benjamin o. Davis sr., far left was  first Black general. During world War ii Davis or. Was commander of a unit of Black fliers left in the 332nd fighter group 15th air Force. Way to the integration of the armed services. Quot so yes there May be disproportionate representation a but i think that it should be regarded As an Opportunity for service. Because these Are All volunteers that we re talking about and they Are benefiting from being where they Are. They receive far better treatment in the armed. Services of the United states than they can receive in civilian . Although Davis has had a distinguished Post military. Career a As safety commissioner of Cleveland at two High level jobs in the department of transportation and on several presidential commissions a he has t been in uniform for 20 years. So it is with astonishment and Pride that he watches Gen. Colin Powell s role in the persian Gulf War. Quot i was extremely proud that Colin Powell had been Able to impress the people for whom he worked so favourably. That he received the appointment and i looked upon it As a  Opportunity for other people. But i won t say that i was t surprised because i was. I think it is extremely unusual for a Black person regardless of All capability to have been appointed chairman of the joint chiefs. I Hope he is Able to get through this War without. Being badly  i Davis is worried about this War. He says it represents a a Banger to the United states a danger to George Bush Davis As a major general with Safe in 1961. A amp Silt Davis with his wife Agatha in 1965. Up and a danger to the armed forces. He allows himself these very Unmil itary thoughts because he is no longer in uniform. He considers himself much More of a Reader than a doer now with time to reflect on his opinions. For it a career military Man he takes a thoughtful View. But Davis is a Man whose life was forged on a Bedrock of personal character. And no one is going to Tell him How to think. He. Has his own views. One of them is on the use of the words Quot african a a.  it is not a term he feels comfortable with. For starters he does no to like Labelling. Quot a person is a person a he says. A a a a a. A. Beyond that he finds the term misleading and not particular helpful. Quot i have been opposed to segregation ,&Quot he says. Quot and i object to african american strenuously. Everybody j know is mixed up. When a Black person uses that term he is asking to be separate from the mainstream of american life. I prefer to be an american Quot. Just As he prefers to be known As an american general and one of the makers of the air Force he even declined the Opportunity to have a portrait of him painted and Hung at West Point As an inspiration to a Flack cadets. Quot i Don t want to be discriminated against by being put in a separate group Quot he says. A the sort of thing that happened to us holds you together or takes you apart Quot says Agatha Davis. A we be always worked together i be always tried to do everything.  him. Heis always Iri Edlo do everything he can for me a and he still does. I Don t think anybody could have a better  a a y y Agatha Scott a teacher from new Haven conn., and Ben Davis were married on june 20,1939, in the Chapel at West Point. The West Point chaplain officiated. Quot there were no crossed swords Quot says Agatha Davis laughing at the idea there would t have been anybody to hold them. Did she have any idea what she was getting into7 it would t have made any difference she says. They duct at a new year s eve party in new \ Oik. It was his first leave after having been at West Point for a year and a half. Quot there was this handsome Guy in a West Point uniform Quot she recalls. Everybody at that dance know he was there and All the girls in the place were after him. But i decided he was going to pay  me so i took a whole lot of confetti and stuck it Down his stiff. Collar. A a. A. A. A. They met again the next year right before Christmas in new York. She had made plans a parties and dances for which she already had an escort a dentist from York a. I told him some of the things was going told Viand he said could i take you.4 and i said i can t do thana because that would t be very Nice but if you want to go and ask him it s All right with me so he went and asked him if it was All right. And i Felt real silly but i did t care. It started there and from then on it was just the two of  each weekend she drove up from new Haven to see him. There was Little they could do a no invitations to hops or football game parties a and few places to go. The Library was the most comfortable place they could be with one  that we looked at the books Quot she says we looked at each . Her presence in his life made the silencing bearable. Some of it he shared with her and some of it to kept to himself. But they were never invited anywhere and she a never met another cachet. Quot it was t really obvious to re Quot she remembers Quot we were Only interested in it each other. But he never let it touch him to the  he wanted to give it up.  ,. Aat fort Benning after their marriage life was difficult. An initial Effort to Call on his commanding officer. Mandated by army etiquette was met with a locked screen door. Soon afterwards their application for membership in the officers club which had been suggested by the adjutant was responded to by the return of their Check with the explanation that because Davis had not used the club it was assumed he was not interested Quot of lost a lot of respect for the military there Quot to says. Quot it went on that Way for two  = overseas a Japan Taiwan Germany Korea the Philippines a As he made his Way up through the ranks it amp was always easier. Quot we  wonderful acquaintances and friends once we got overseas 1 says Agatha Davis. Quot we still have them. Any nationality any race overseas a people never thought of you As being anything but an american. They did t care what Yoi were. Quot a at Home people cared. And on rare than one occasion Agatha Davis let people know what she thought of them. Davis says it made it easier for him. Quot she expressed things i May have Felt but did t Zhirik i could  people never spoke on matters of the Day. Bdl Agatha never held her . She had always been an Independent thinker. And life in segregated America a in the military in Alabama and Georgia in Washington . A a made her angry. But the treatment her husband received angered her More. Quot after. Spending four horrible years at West Point they did no to treat him right Quot she says. Quot he did no to get the assignments to should have gotten he did t get to be a Pilot when he qualified for it. He had. To be an officer with Black soldiers not that there s. Anything wrong with Black soldiers but you know what Quot Black soldiers were doing then. Menial work cutting a a grass that a not what i Call re Al soldiering. There was no Effort made by  be decent to him. No one Quot in part Davis autobiography was a Way of exorcising the past. He had never kept a diary but following his father s advice they saved every official paper every newspaper clipping every letter they wrote to each other. 9 organized by Agatha Davis chronologically into ,. Cardboard boxes and Brown paper bags they line the Walls of a bedroom in their apartment. The sign on the door says Quot Davis archives  the Book initiated by an invitation from  of the smithsonian institution press Felix Lowe was a joint project. Could he have managed any of it without her Quot i have to say i could to Quot he says. Quot she was a person i could conf Dean i told her everything that was going on she was the Only one i  / a _ a and now he a food everyone else. Since the completion of the Book Agatha Davis a husband Speaks his mind More freely. It i silencing has finally been lifted. Says Ben Davis with Pride Quot i feel better having written this  a. B noticed that her b As if the Page 14 the stars and stripes saturday february 9,1991 the stars and stripes a a a Page 15 /