When President McKinley turned down Benjamin Oliver Davis for a place at West Point due to the colour of his skin, Davis joined the army as a private. Davis soon worked his way through the ranks to receive his second lieutenant commission in 1901. It would be over 30 years before another black officer would receive his commission, and that would be Benjamin Oliver Davis's son, Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr.
In theory, black troops would be barred from combat, but Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr. would lead the first Black flying squadron, the Tuskegee Airmen, to success during WWII.
For this episode, I'm joined by Doug Melville, a direct relative of Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr. and Sr.
When George Lucas's film 'Red Tails' (2012), celebrating the Tuskegee Airmen, was released, Doug was shocked when he realised that Ben Jr.’s name had been omitted and replaced by the fictional Colonel A. J. Bullard. And Ben’s father, Benjamin O. Davis Sr., America’s first Black general who helped integrate the military, was left out too. The film inspired him to rediscover his family’s story, which spans five generations, and write Invisible Generals: Rediscovering Family Legacy, and a Quest to Honor America's First Black Generals.
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105 - Case White: The Invasion of Poland, 1939
104 - Alarmstart: The Luftwaffe in the Mediterranean
103 'Chink' Eric Dorman-Smith
102 - D-Day Through German Eyes
101 - Operation CHASTISE: The Dambusters
100 - Left For Dead At Nijmegen
99 - George Mergenthaler - MERG
98 - Operation Market Garden
97 - Japanese POW: Ray Fitchett
96 - Bridge Busters: The Dortmund-Ems Canal Raid
95 - Jimmy Stewart
94 - 1941
93 - D-Day: The British Beach Landings
92 - D-Day: Omaha
91 - USS Arizona: Brothers Down
90 - Storm On Our Shores
89 - Cork Wars
88 - Division Leclerc
87 - Hitler's Death
86 - The SAS in Italy, 1943-45
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