4th Star Awarded General Who Led Tuskegee Airmen

WASHINGTON —  With a beaming group of Tuskegee Airmen looking on, President Clinton made a four-star general of their commander, Benjamin O. Davis Jr., whose audacity and heroism helped open doors for blacks in the armed forces.

“He earned this honor a long time ago,” Clinton said.

Davis, 85, stood straight and stern in his blue Air Force uniform while his sister, Elnora Davis McLendon, joined Clinton in pinning on his fourth star Wednesday at a White House ceremony.

“I’m extremely proud to have been a member of the United States Air Force,” Davis said. “I will not make a speech, but I say to you, ladies and gentlemen, that all of us owe great thanks to the United States Air Force for its contributions.”

The heavily decorated command pilot drew long applause from a crowd that ranged from enlisted airmen to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Defense Secretary William S. Cohen.

“Your patriotism and love of country was deeper than the racism that was all around you,” Cohen said. “You, sir, are among the rarest souls.”

Clinton praised Davis as “a hero in war, a leader in peace, a pioneer for freedom, opportunity and basic human dignity” who withstood withering discrimination to blaze a trail for other black Americans.

In return, Clinton was made an honorary Tuskegee Airman.

Davis’ new designation is largely ceremonial and does not give him any additional pension or benefits.

Davis listened stoically, his hands on his knees, while a military aide read the order that promoted him, and his Tuskegee pilots, who never lost a U.S. bomber to enemy action in 200 missions, lavished praise on him.

“I salute you, sir, for standing up in the firestorm of racial prejudice and never losing sight of the fact that this country is as much ours as anybody else’s,” said retired Air Force Col. William A. Campbell, who was among the first group of pilots Davis commanded.

Davis received his fourth star 28 years after he retired and 100 years after his father, Benjamin O. Davis Sr., America’s first black brigadier general, joined the Army.

There are 33 four-star generals on active military duty. Three are black: one each in the Army, Navy and Air Force.