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^[[Original scanned September 27, 2002. Reduced print – for full-sized print, see Davis Box 163, Folder 1]] [[image - American flag]] The Journal and Guide * - National Edition - * VOL. XLIII NO. 38 NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1943 PRICE 10 CENTS [[advertisement]] WARTIME SAVINGS Mean Peacetime Security! [[/advertisement]] Pilots Seasoned Veterans Now - Lt. Col. Davis Returning Hero Tells Newsmen He Found No Discrimination Away 150 Mile Train Ride Took 17 Hours; 99th Squadron's Combat Morale High; Josephine Baker, Tom Young Popular. (Staff Correspondence) WASHINGTON, D. C. – A lesson in cooperation and coordination in the Army Air Forces when race segregation is not existent was given at a press conference at the War Department last Friday by Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin O. Davis Jr., who recently returned from the North African theatre of operations. His prepared statement, giving an account of the 99th Fighter Squadron which he commanded from August 27, 1942, to september 2, last, posed the question – If colored and white soldiers can work and fight together in a common cause on a battlefront, why can they not be trained together in this country. Incidentally, the Army Air Forces is moving toward mixed training. Perhaps the success of the Ninety-ninth Fighter Squadron, which was regarded as an experiment, may have influenced the Air Forces, but pilots, bombardiers and navigators who are to compose a colored [[?fighting]] bombardment group will be trained in mixed classes and at northwestern fields. Previously the Army Air Forces have been committed to a segregated training program, except for administrative personnel who attended mixed Officer Candidate Schools. Colonel Davis omitted from his statement any detailed discussion of the rigid policy of race segregation that was maintained at the Tuskegee Army Air Base during the period the Ninety-ninth Fighter Squadron was undergoing training at that field. But he significantly pointed out that from the moment the squadron went aboard ship to sail for a North African port, race segregation and race discrimination ceased. The squadron left the United States on April 15. Since that date, he said, "there has not been a single circumstance or incident which could be regarded as (Continued on Page 2) Correspondent is Popular Says Davis Colonel Davis also said that Tommy Young, war correspondent in the Norfolk Journal and Guide who sailed with the Ninety-ninth, was a favorite with everyone in the squadron. "It was nice to have him there," he said, "because he succeeded in getting news back to the people at home faster than we could write it back home." "He gained much weight and I left him in good health. He flew with me part way on a trip to England." Save THIS Unique Picture For Your Scrapbook [[image - photograph of B.O. Davis, two men and a woman in uniform]] [[caption]] This is truly a picture for your personal archives or scrapbook! It shows the first and only colored general in the U. S. Army – and the only general on active duty who has fought through three wars participated in by the United States – the first colored officer to command an American aviation squadron on any battlefront; the director of the War Department's bureau of public relations, and the wife of the flying officer. Left to right: Brigadier General B. O. Davis, Lt. Colonel Benjamin O. Davis Jr., Mrs. Agatha Scott Davis, wife of the colonel, and Major General Alexander A. Surles. They were photographed at the War Department's press conference for Lt. Col. Davis who had just returned from Sicily, where he commanded the 99th Fighter Squadron, to take command – with the probable rank of full colonel – of the 332nd Fighter Group (three fighter squadrons) and two attached ground units at Selfridge Field, Michigan. Captain George S. Roberts of Fairmont, W. Va., operations officer of the 99th, succeeded Lt. Col. Davis as commander of the 99th. (Official Photo, U. S. Air Forces) [[/caption]] An Eagle Returns Home [[image - photograph of B.O. Davis and two men]] [[caption]] Lt. Colonel Benjamin O. Davis Jr., promoted to command of the 332nd Fighter Group at Selfridge Field, Michigan, tells a press conference at the War Department in Washington about the experiences of the 99th Fighter Squadron which he commanded, starting its campaigns in North Africa, over Pantelleria, and through the fall of Sicily. The tall, battle-gaunt West Pointer's famous father, Brig. General B. O. Davis, only colored general in American history, sits beside him. To Colonel Davis' left is Truman K. [[?Oberon]] Jr., able civilian aide to the Secretary of War. The conference was also attended by high ranking War Department officers and about fifty white and colored newspapermen and photographers. (Official Photo, U. S. Air Forces.) [[/caption]] ^[[Davis B005 F011 2sh2of2]] ^[[1943]]
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Only articles relating to B.O. Davis transcribed
