Gen. Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. (1877-1970) was the first African American general in the regular United States Armed Services. He assisted in developing and implementing a plan for the limited desegregation of U.S. combat forces in Europe during World War II.

Benjamin O. Davis was born on July 1, 1877, to Henrietta Stewart Davis and Louis P. H. Davis of Washington, D.C. He attended public schools and college in the nation's capital, ultimately graduating from Howard University.

Davis was commissioned a first lieutenant in the 8th U.S. Volunteer Infantry in 1898, thus beginning a distinguished military career which spanned half a century, four continents, and three major wars. Davis served in Cuba during the Spanish American War. Later he was stationed with the 9th Cavalry, one of two units of "Buffalo Soldiers" on the western frontier. The "Buffalo Soldiers," as the Indians called the African American regiments, were...