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[[color comic strip panels]]

[[image - drawing of cadets sitting in class room listening to instructor]] 
WHEN HIS FATHER TAUGHT MILITARY SCIENCE AT WILBERFORCE UNIVERSITY AND TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE, YOUNG DAVIS STUDIED WITH THE OLDER BOYS.

[[cadet Davis]] "DON'T FORGET TO PUT IN AIRPLANES, POP!"

ING[[instructor]] "THAT'S RIGHT! AIR COVER FOR GROUND TROOPS IS BECOMING A NECESSITY!

[[image - drawing of young cadet Davis ay West Point]]
AT TWENTY, B.O. DAVIS, JR., ENTERED West Point. TWO YEARS LATER, NO CADET HAD YET SPOKEN TO HIM, EXCEPT IN THE LINE OF DUTY.

[[cadet Davis]]"YOU'D THINK I WAS POISON! TWO YEARS OF THIS "SILENCE" IS GETTING ME DOWN."

[[image - drawing of NEW 2ND LT. DAVIS AND HIS FATHER TALKING]]
BUT HE STUCK IT OUT! A PROUD DAY FOR THE DAVIS FAMILY WAS JUNE 12, 1936, WHEN YOUNG DAVIS WAS GRADUATED FROM West Point.

[[2ND LT DAVIS]]"I'M GOING TO TRY TO TAKE UP FLYING. THERE'S NEVER BEEN A NEGRO ARMY fLYER."

[[LT DAVIS'S FATHER]] "THERE CAN ALWAYS BE A FIRST, SON!"

[[image - drawing of the senior Davis, Colonel Davis, receiving the news that he had been promoted to Brigadier General]] 
FIVE YEARS LATER, AS HIS FATHER'S AIDE AT FORT RILEY KANSAS, YOUNG DAVIS WAS PATIENTLY AWAITING ACTION
ON HIS APPLICATION FOR AVIATION TRAINING, WHEN A GREAT NEWS STORY BROKE ABOUT SENIOR DAVIS.

[[COLONEL DAVIS'S AIDE]] "YOU'VE BEEN PROMOTED TO BRIGADIER GENERAL, SIR. THE PAPER SAYS THE PRESIDENT HAS JUST ANNOUNCED IT."

[[COLONEL DAVIS]] "MAYBE THEN I'LL BE IN A POSITION TO CONVINCE THOSE IN THE ARMY WHO THINK A NEGRO CAN'T BE TRAINED FOR MECHANIZED WARFARE."

[[image - drawing of General Davis talking to his son sitting in the cockpit of a aircraft]]
DESPITE GENERAL DAVIS' URGENT PLEADING, IT WAS NOT UNTIL MAY, 1941, THAT THE ARMY BEGAN TO ACCEPT QUALIFIED MEN AS FLYERS, REGARDLESS OF THEIR RACE.

[[DAVIS JR.]] "POP, I'M AFAID I DON'T LIKE TRAINING OFF HERE BY OURSELVES."

[[GENERAL DAVIS] "THE IMPORTANT THING IS THAT HERE'S YOUR CHANCE TO LEARN HOW TO FLY! ONCE YOU'VE LEARNED, YOU CAN SHOW THE WORLD YOU'RE JUST AS GOOD AS ANYONE."

[[image - drawing of young Davis leading three fighters returningto their airfield]]]]
AS COMMANDING OFFICER, YOUNG DAVIS ORGANIZED THE 99TH PURSUIT SQUADRON FOR FRONT-LINE ACTION OVERSEAS.

[[YOUNG DAVIS]] "PUT 'EM DOWN EASY, FELLOWS! YOU'VE WON YOUR WINGS. AFTER THIS, WE RIDE THE ROAD TO BERLIN."