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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."