In God We Trust
The Black-American 231st Transportation (Truck) Battalion was the first National Guard unit to deploy to Korea. [See article on this page from the Pentagram.]
The 2nd Ranger Infantry Company (Airborne) was the first and only all-black Ranger unit in the history of the U.S. Army. The Soldiers were volunteers who deployed to Korea for seven months beginning in late 1950. During their time in-country, they gallantly defended a critical railroad running through Tanyang Pass during a night infiltration by communist forces. They also performed the first airborne assault in Ranger history, near Munsan-ni on March 23, 195
The last black combat unit in the United States Army, the 25th Infantry Division's 77th Engineer Combat Company was among the most decorated single American unit in the Korean War.
These men and women served in Korea and throughout the world during the Korean War.
Lt. Colonel Biggs was born in Newark, New Jersey. He enlisted in the Army after high school. He was the first Black-American soldier accepted into the Army's elite paratrooper unit. He was a member of the 555th Paratroop Division in Korea. This unit was an all-black unit that was assigned particularly dangerous combat missions. He authored the book, The Triple Nickles. He was a founding Dean at Middlesex Community College. Colonel Biggs held several positions at the college over the next decade, including Dean of Faculty and Dean of Administration. Subsequently, Colonel Biggs served as the State of Connecticut's Deputy Commissioner of Public Works; as C.E.O. of the Boston Housing Authority; and on the faculty of Florida International University in Miami. He died November 16, 2004.
Dr. Blake was the first Black-American appointed to the South Carolina State Board of Education, where he served for six years. In 1974 he was appointed as the first Black-American chairman of the board. Born on August 2, 1930, he received a Bachelor of Science degree from Allen University in 1951 and a Master of Science degree from South Carolina State University in 1961. He served in the Air Force from 1951 to 1955 and attained the rank of Sergeant. He was also an Air Force instructor.
first black physician to serve in a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) unit. Blount attended medical school at Howard University during the 1940s in Washington, DC, where he studied under Charles Drew. Drew at the time was a leading medical researcher and also Black-American. Drew is famous for his work in the storage and processing of blood for transfusions. He developed large-scale blood banking and managed two large blood banks during World War II. Blount deployed with the 8225th MASH from Fort Bragg in 1952. The 8225 supported the 1st Cavalry Division from Fort Hood, the 2nd Infantry Division, which was the most decorated division from the Korean War, the 24th Infantry Division from Fort Riley, and the 25th Infantry Division from Hawaii. Blount would earn the Korean War Service Medal for his service as a surgeon. The 8225 set up about 10 miles from the 38th Parallel. MASH units were usually positioned as close as possible to the front to provide quick access for the wounded to surgical care but beyond the reach of enemy artillery. The 8225 had up to four surgical tables in operation simultaneously, and in a typical week might see about 90 surgical cases. Medical staff of the 8225 deserve great credit for their success rate; during one documented period of 1,936 admissions, only 11 deaths were reported, which is a survival rate of almost 99.5 percent. During Blount's tour, the chief of surgery became ill and was unable to perform his duties. The MASH commander named Blount chief of surgery during the illness.
In 1945, Second Lieutenant Frederick Branch became the first Black-American officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. Born in North Carolina, in 1922, he graduated from Temple University in 1947 with a degree in physics. Branch developed the science program for Philadelphia's Murrell Dobbins High School and taught for 35 years, but World War II interrupted his education. Branch fought in the South Pacific in 1943, followed by officer training. He served in Korea but resigned in 1955 due to the limited opportunities for advancement. Captain Branch was recognized for his role in desegregation of the armed forces. The U.S. Senate passed a resolution honoring his landmark commission in 1995, he received an NAACP award, and a building at Quantico's Officer Candidate School is named for him. Branch died April 10, 2005, and is buried at Quantico National Cemetery (Section 17, Grave 472). [Source: www.cem.va.gov]
First Black-American Navy diver. "Master Chief Boatswain's Mate Carl Brashear grew up on a farm in Kentucky as part of a sharecropper family. After being educated in segregated schools, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1948 and underwent recruit training at Great Lakes, IL. After initial duty as a steward, he began handling aircraft for squadron VX-1 at Key West, FL, and was subsequently rated as a boatswain's mate. He served on the escort carriers Palau (CVE-122) and Tripoli (CVE-64) and began taking training in salvage diving. In 1954, Brashear completed U.S. Navy Diving & Salvage training becoming the first Black-American to attend and graduate from the school and the first Black-American U.S. Navy diver. Other duties were on USS Opportune (ARS-41); Naval Air Station Quonset Point, where he escorted President Dwight Eisenhower; Ship Repair Facility Guam; Deep-Sea Diving School; the submarine tender Nereus (AS-17), and Fleet Training Center Pearl Harbor. He also had temporary duty with Joint Task Force Eight for nuclear tests in the Pacific. He served on USS Coucal (ASR-8), USS Shakori (ATF-162), and USS Hoist (ARS-40). While on board the latter in 1966 for the recovery of a nuclear weapon off Spain, Brashear was badly injured in an accident. As a result, surgeons amputated his left leg below the knee. He refused to submit to the medical survey board's attempt to retire him as unfit for duty. After demonstrating that he could still dive and perform his other duties, he was assigned to Harbor Clearance Unit 2, Naval Air Station Norfolk, Experimental Diving Unit, the submarine tender Hunley (AS-31); USS Recovery (ARS-43), Naval Safety Center; and Shore Intermediate Maintenance Activity Norfolk. In 1970, as an amputee, he qualified as the first Black-American master diver in the history of the U.S. Navy." [Source: Naval History and Heritage Command] Brashear was born January 19, 1931 and died July 25, 2006.
Jesse L. Brown Jr. was a sharecropper's son from Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He entered the aviation midshipman program after graduating through an NROTC scholarship from Ohio State, and in 1948 became the first Black-American naval aviator. He was also the first black naval aviator to die in combat in the Korean War. Information about Jesse Brown is located all over the Internet.
A member of Class 55-F Warrant Officer Candidate School at Camp Ruckers, he served as a helicopter pilot in Korea and Vietnam. He was the first Black-American commander to pilot a United States President in his helicopter (Presidents Johnson, Nixon and Ford). He retired as a CW4 after 26 years of military service. He joined Oasis Aviation, Inc. in 1978 and was promoted to president of the company in 1987.
He was among the first six Black-American attendees of the University of Texas School of Law, and one of two that served in the military during the Korean War. He enlisted in the Air Force during the Korean War, serving stateside. After his discharge he became a leading expert in classical African civilizations at Northeastern State College (now Northeastern Illinois University). Born in 1930, he died in 2004.
Eugene Calvin Cheatham, Jr. was one of the Tuskegee Airmen and a career officer in the United States Air Force.
Cheatham was born in Georgia on August 27, 1915. His father was an Episcopal missionary whose work took the family to Africa and Europe. While living in New York City, he became a Boy Scout and by 1930 he had completed the requirements for Eagle Scout. Unable to afford a full uniform, he never appeared before his board of review. Cheatham was a fighter pilot with the 332nd Fighter Group— better known as the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II. He flew 150 missions during the Korean War. He achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel and retired in 1977. He then worked as a personnel and equal-opportunity officer for the Air Force, serving in Japan, Montana and San Bernardino, California. In 2001, Cheatham attended a Veterans Day event where he expressed his regret at not earning Eagle Scout to one of the organizers who happened to be an Eagle Scout. Executives from International Profit Associates petitioned the National Council of the BSA to award Cheatham's Eagle Scout. Unable to locate records, the Scouts tested Cheatham and performed an exhaustive board of review according to the requirements of 1930. On September 18, 2004 Cheatham was awarded his Eagle Scout in a ceremony at the San Diego Air & Space Museum. Cheatham died on May 10, 2005 from pancreatic cancer and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. [Source: Findagrave]
founder of the Cherry Engineering Support Services. Born on March 24, 1928 in Suffolk, Virginia, Cherry graduated from Virginia Union University, Richmond. He entered the Air Force in October of 1951. After flight training he served in Korea, conducting 52 combat missions. He was the 43rd American and first Black-American captured in the Vietnam War. He endured three weeks of torture at the "Hanoi Hilton". He retired from the Air Force after 30 years service in 1981. In 1992 he founded Cherry Engineering Support Services, the company that designed and developed equipment for traffic control.
Pfc. Colbert was 22 years old and serving in the 24th Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, when he was killed in action in Korea on April 24, 1951. The son of Elizabeth Colbert of Annapolis, Maryland, he was born May 07, 1928. He graduated from Bates High School in 1945, He received an athletic scholarship to North Carolina A&T State University. After graduation he enlisted in the Army, trained at Fort Dix, and went to Europe with occupying forces. The 24th Regiment was a segregated army unit under white command. He was the first casualty of the Korean War buried in Annapolis National Cemetery.
A civil rights champion from Detroit, Michigan, John Conyers was the first black Democratic leader on the House Judiciary Committee. He was a co-sponsor of the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Act and co-founder of the Congressional Black Caucus. He was the longest-serving Black-American member of Congress. Conyers joined the Army in August of 1950 and became a 2nd Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers. After serving in Korea, he was discharged in 1954. He was born May 16, 1929, in Detroit, Michigan, and died in 2019 at the age of 90.
He enlisted in the Marine Corps on March 28, 1949, and trained at Montford Point. His 20-year career in the Marine Corps ended when he retired in 1972. In 1959 Culmer became the first black helicopter crew chief in the Corps while serving at the El Toro air station.
U.S. Air Force (1912-2002)—The son of Brig. Gen. Benjamin O. Davis Sr., Benjamin O. Davis Jr. was the first Black-American general in the U.S. Air Force. A 1936 graduate of West Point, he was among the first group of Black-Americans admitted to the U.S. Army Air Corps. During World War II, he commanded the 99th Pursuit Squadron—the first all-Black American air unit, which flew tactical support missions in the Mediterranean theater—and the 332nd Fighter Group, more famously known as the Tuskegee Airmen. After President Harry S. Truman desegregated the armed forces by executive order in July 1948, Davis helped draft a plan to implement the order. Davis commanded a fighter wing in the Korean War and was promoted to brigadier general in 1954. During the 1950s and 1960s, he held major Air Force command posts in Asia, Europe and the United States. Advanced to four-star rank in 1998, Gen. Davis' military decorations include the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal. (Section 2, Grave E-311-RH) [Source: Arlington Cemetery website]
Born September 28, 1926, Dillard was the first black graduate of the National War College in 1965 and the first black general officer in the Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for intelligence. He enlisted in the Army in June of 1945 and served in Germany with the 349th Field Artillery Group. He was commissioned a second lieutenant after graduating from Officer Candidate School. He was shipped to Gifu, Japan with the 3rd Battalion, 24th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division and then was sent to battle in Korea. He was a Vietnam veteran. He served his country from 1945 to 1980, retiring with the rank of major general. He died June 16, 2015.
Born July 9, 1934 in Brooklyn, New York, Dixon joined the US Army after graduating from high school in 1952. He served in the Korean War as a radio communications specialist. After the war he received a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry (1956) from Brooklyn College; a Master of Arts degree (1977); a PhD (1981) and a Master of Arts degree in music in 1995. In 1964 he became the first chemical technician for the Campbell Soup Company. Later he was the first Black-American chemist at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Pennsylvania. He also served in the Naval Ship Systems Engineering Station at the Navy Yard. Furthermore, he served as an Industrial Hygienist at the Navy Yard. He investigated workplace causes of cancer, published books on environmental health; wrote over 200 songs during his lifetime, and served as a volunteer at homeless shelters and as a volunteer carpenter at Habitat for Humanity. He died January 13, 2000 in Palm Coast, Florida.
major league outfielder. Born October 23, 1930 in Little Rock, Arkansas, Solly began his baseball career in 1948 playing for the Elmwood Giants in the Mandrake League. He signed with the Chicago Cubs in 1951, served two years in the military 1952-53, and then debuted in the major league with the Chicago Cubs in 1956. He and his brother Sammy were the first Black-American brothers to play in the majors. He retired from baseball in 1960.
Duncan was the first Black-American to serve on the Ohio State Supreme Court. In 1971 he was appointed to the U.S. Court of Military Appeals for the armed forces, a position he held for eleven years. He was the first Black-American to hold that position. Born August 24, 1927 in Urbana, Ohio, he received a Bachelor's degree from Ohio State University in 1948 and a law degree from Moritz College of Law in 1952. He took time off from his legal career to join the U.S. Army from 1952-1966. He served in Korea. Robert Duncan died November 2, 2012 in Columbus, Ohio, at the age of 85.
An American sculptor, author and former test pilot, Ed Dwight has created over 129 memorial sculptures and over 18,000 gallery pieces during his art career. Born September 9, 1933, he was the first Black-American to graduate from Bishop Ward High School, a private Catholic high school in Kansas City, Kansas. He received an Associate of Arts degree in engineering from Kansas City Jr. College in 1953 and joined the Air Force, serving from 1953 to 1966 with the rank of captain. He was the first Black-American to enter the Air Force training program from which NASA selected astronauts. The fact that he was not selected caused controversy. In 1957 he graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree aeronautical engineering from Arizona State University. In 1974 he was commissioned to create a statue for the Colorado Capitol Building. His sculptured pieces involved Blacks and civil rights activists.
This pioneering black journalist was born in Suffolk, Virginia. He graduated from high school in Philadelphia in 1942 and then graduated from West Virginia State College with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. He was drafted into the Army during the Korean War, stationed first at Fort Hood, Texas, and then in Korea. After discharge he became a commercial artist and owned an advertising business. He got a job in the circulation department of the Boston Globe and held that job from 1963-68. He became the first black columnist in the history of the Globe. He retired in 1988. Dexter Eure fought for civil rights, social justice, and fought against workplace inequality. He died July 2, 2015 in Brighton, Massachusetts.
Charles Evers was the brother of Medgar Evers, who was shot and killed in the driveway of his home in Jackson, Mississippi in 1963. Charles was a "wheeler and dealer" who became prosperous in supermarket, liquor store and real estate businesses, among other venues in Mississippi cities. A graduate of Alcorn A&M (now Alcorn State University), he was elected mayor of Fayette, Mississippi in 1969, the first Black-American in a century to hold that office. He joined the Army in 1941 and served in the Pacific during World War II. He served one year with his Reserve unit in the Korean War.
Chaplain Gibson served in the Army from 1941 to 1957, during World War II and the Korean War. In Korea he became the division chaplain for the 2nd Infantry Division in 1953. He was the first Black-American Army chaplain of a regular, non-segregated combat division in history. After military service Dr. Gibson became the seventh president of HBCU Morristown College in Morristown, Tennessee. He held that position from 1959 to 1969.
He became the Secret Service Agency's first Black-American deputy assistant director for the Office of Inspection. For further information about Gittens see the Male Black-Americans of Note section.
He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College in 1921 and a Bachelor of Laws from Harvard School of Law in 1924. He was the first man in history to long jump 25 feet and the first Black-American to win a silver medal in the Olympics in the long jump. He enlisted in the National Guard in 1925 and signed up for World War II with the 372nd Infantry Regiment, a segregated unit. He gained the rank of Colonel and held it until he was discharged in 1957. He rejoined the National Guard until 1959. He retired with the rank of Brigadier General--the first Black-American to earn that rank in Massachusetts. He was the first Black-American to be seated on the Massachusetts Superior Court.
A resident of Detroit, Annie Graham was the first Black-American female to join the United States Marine Corps on September 8, 1949. She later married. Annie Graham Gilliand died in July of 3003.
The first Black-American graduate of the US Naval Academy in 1949, Gravely was also the first Black-American to command a Navy ship; the first Black-American to command a fleet; and the first Black-American to become an admiral. He served in the Navy for 38 years from 1942-1980. During the Korean War he served as a communications officer on the cruiser Toledo. He died October 22, 2004.
This Tuskegee airman, World War II and Korean War veteran was the first black weather officer to be assigned to the Master Air Weather Analysis Service in the Pentagon. He joined the Tuskegee program on September 17, 1942 and completed the course on May 28, 1943. Born on October 5, 1920 in Hemphill, West Virginia, he was a captain on the football team of Kimball Negro District High School, Kimball, West Virginia. George wanted to be a fighter pilot rather than a weatherman. He received a Distinguished Flying Cross and an Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters during World War II. While flying F-51D (tail number 44-15236), his plane crashed on its 13th combat mission five miles south of Pyongyang. He was reported Missing in Action on April 5, 1951 and then declared killed in action. He was survived by a grieving widow.
Born September 3, 1924, Greason joined the Marine Corps in 1943 after graduating from high school and trained at Montford Point. During World War II he served with the all-black 66th Supply Platoon with the 34th Marine Depot Company on Iwo Jima. He completed his tour with American occupational forces in Japan, stationed at Sasebo and Nagasaki. When he returned to the States he played two seasons with the semi-pro Atlanta All-Stars football team. A gifted pitcher, he signed with the Nashville Black Vols in 1947. In 1948 he helped the Birmingham Black Barons win the Negro American League. After pitching for the Barons and the Jalisco Charros in the Mexican League, he volunteered to rejoin the Marine Corps during the Korean War. He was sent to Camp Lejeune where he helped the Corps baseball team win almost every game. In 1952 he listed his nickname as "Double Duty" because he was a ball player and Marine. In 1952 he became the first black minor-leaguer to play in Oklahoma with the Triple-A Oklahoma City Indians. In 1954 he became the first Black-American pitcher (93 miles per hour fastball)to play for the St. Louis Cardinals. He continued to play ball until he retired from the game in 1959 to become a Baptist preacher.
Continental Airlines' first black pilot. Born June 6, 1929 in El Dorado, Arkansas, Marlon Green joined the Air Force during the Korean War and flew 3,071 hours in multi-engine aircraft. His last posting was flying SA-16 Albatross with the 26th Air Rescue Squadron at Johnson Air Base in Tokyo. After leaving the Air Force in 1957, he tried to become a commercial pilot. The color of his skin was the factor in constantly being denied the job. What followed was a six-year legal battle against discrimination. In 1963, he won a U.S. Supreme Court case ("Colorado Anti-Discrimination Commission versus Continental Airlines") that opened opportunities for black commercial pilots. (The first black pilot for a major US airliner was David Harris, who flew for American Airlines beginning in 1964.) Marlon Green flew for Continental Airlines from 1965-1978. He became a captain in 1966. Green died July 06, 2009 in Denver, Colorado.
The third Black-American woman to join the Marine Corps, she trained at Parris Island and then was assigned to Marine Corps Headquarters in Washington, D.C. as a supply procurement clerk and later buyer. Her various duty stations included San Francisco, Philadelphia, Camp Pendleton, Camp Lejeune, Barstow and Hawaii. Annie Grimes was the first black female Marine Corps officer. She became a Warrant Officer in 1966 and then in 1969 became a Chief Warrant Officer. She was also the first Black-American female to retire after a 20-year career in the Marine Corps.
Born in Ithaca, New York, Haley authored "Roots: The Saga of an American Family." He enlisted in the Coast Guard in the late 1940s and became the Coast Guard's first ever Petty Officer First Class with the rating of Journalist. He held that position until he left the Coast Guard in 1959.
Hargrove served 30 years in the military. He enlisted in 1951 and was a combat engineer in the Korean War (1952-53). He graduated in the 12th WOC class at Camp Ruckers in November 1955 and became an early YH-40 Huey test pilot, rotary-wing instructor, civilian college graduate, aircraft maintenance officer, Presidential support pilot, Vietnam combat aviator, and VIP pilot. He retired in 1981. During his service in Korea, Italy and Vietnam he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal with 28 Oak Leaf Clusters.
This prolific industrial designer created 750 designs of everyday objects. Born on September 23, 1931 in Shreveport, Louisiana, he received a scholarship at the School of the Art Institute (SAIC) in Chicago. He was drafted into the US Army in 1954 and assigned as a cartographer in West Germany. He left the military early when he was accepted in the SAIC graduate program for industrial design. In the late 1950s he redesigned the Model F Viewmaster--one of his most famous designs. Among his other designs was the first plastic rubbish can and then redesigned it to rectangular form with wheels. He was hired as Sears, Roebuck & Company as its first black executive in 1961 and retired from Sears in 1993. He then taught industrial design at the University of Illinois and Columbia College in Chicago. His biography, A Life's Design, was published in 2005. He died on November 29, 2018 in Santa Clarita, California.
Director of the Leadership Institute at Hampton University. Bettye Hill was born in San Antonio, Texas on February 15, 1950. She entered the Army Nurse Corps after high school and in June of 1971 she got her first assignment as a clinical staff nurse at Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas. In June of 1973 she became an instructor of practical nursing at Brooke. In June of 1977 she became head nurse at the 121st Evacuation Hospital in Korea. The next year she became head nurse in the Medical Intensive Care Unit at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. During her military career she met and married Charles W. Simmons, an Army Reserve Officer. She became the first Black-American nurse to hold the dual role of deputy commander of the U.S. Army Medical Department Center and School which had 30,000 students on and off-site, and the 20th Chief of the Army Nurse Corps with 4,000 active personnel. Bettye Hill-Simmons retired from active duty in 2000 and then became director of the Leadership Institute at Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia.
Born in 1924 in St. Louis, Missouri, he flew "Red Tail" P-51s with the 332nd Fighter Group in World War II as a Tuskegee airman. He continued to fly in the Korean War and Vietnam War. He was the first black helicopter pilot in the Air Force. He died in 2010.
During his 14-year baseball career, Howard was a catcher, left-fielder, and coach for the Negro leagues and major leagues (New York Yankees, Kansas City Monarchs and Boston Red Sox). Born on February 23, 1929 in St. Louis, he was the first Black-American player on the Yankees roster. He was also the American League's most valuable player in 1963 and the League's first black player to win that honor. He missed the 1951-52 seasons because he was serving in the US Army. He died December 14, 1980.
He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in June of 1942. He fought in Korea and did two tours of duty in Korea. He later became the first black sergeant major in the USMC, holding that rank for 17 years.
In July 1951, he became the first Black-American in the Air Force to command a fighter squadron. He was also the first Black-American 4-star general in the US Air Force. He was an original Tuskegee airman.
He was among the first six Black-American attendees of the University of Texas School of Law, and one of two that served in the military during the Korean War. He served as a corporal. Corporal Jarmon was born in 1932 and died in 1997.
CWO4 Jones was born January 22, 1930 and served 26 years in the military. He was a helicopter combat pilot in Korea and served two tours of duty in Vietnam, receiving nine Bronze Stars and nine Air Medals. He was a key person in the modification of the M4 aluminum pontoon bridge to an M4T6 float bridge.
Mildred Kelly enlisted in the Women's Army Corps in 1947. In 1974 she became the first Black-American WAC to hold the rank of command sergeant major; first Black-American (and first female) command sergeant of a major Army installation; and the first Black-American woman to reach the rank of Sergeant Major. She retired from the Army in 1976 and died in 2003.
Born in Greenwich, Connecticut on January 26, 1926, he dropped out of high school in 1943 and joined the army in 1944. The next year he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant after completing Officers Candidate School. That same month World War II ended so he became part of the United States occupying forces in Japan until 1950. After the Korean War began he was assigned to South Korea in 1951, becoming one of the first Black-American officers to command an integrated combat unit. He fought in Korea for 18 months, returning to the States in 1952. In 1954 he joined the 188th Airborne Regimental Combat Team. He became a colonel in 1966, the year he retired from the Army. While in the army he completed schooling at the high school level, and went on to receive Bachelor, Master, and PhDs. He was the first Black-American hired in the Washington State Community College System when he began teaching at Everett Junior College. In 1967 he taught history at Shoreline Community College in Shoreline, Washington, where he developed one of the first Black Studies programs in the United States. In 1970 he was hired as the first vice president for minority affairs at the University of Washington. He stayed at that university until 1982. In 1991 he became teacher-administrator at Portland OIC/Rosemary Anderson Middle and High Schools in Portland. He retired as president/CEO of the Anderson School in 2004. He died July 6, 2009 at his home in Redmond, Washington.
She graduated from New York's Lincoln School of Nursing in 1941. She then tried to sign up for the Armed Forces but was informed that the military was not accepting Black nurses. Nancy persevered. In 1945, she became one of the first Black nurses accepted into the Army Reserve Corps. At that time, there was a shortage of white nurses and the military was "desperate." In 1947, Nancy Leftenant-Colon put in an application to become one of the first Black nurses in Air Force. Although she became the first Black nurse in the regular army in 1948 and was transferred to the Air Force in 1949, her Flight Nurse application was not accepted until 1952. Dr. Nancy Leftenant-Colon served as a Flight Nurse in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. During these conflicts, she set up hospital wards in Japan and in active war zones. She was credited with saving many lives during those wars. In 1956, Nancy retired from Flight Nursing. Major Nancy Leftenant-Colon retired from the military in 1965. Nancy became a school nurse in New York. She is an initial member of the East Coast Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. having joined at its inception in 1973. Within the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. she served in the capacity of National Treasurer, First Vice-President and as the first female President of the Organization. She has received numerous awards including honorary degrees from the Tuskegee University and Mt. St. Vincent College in Riverdale, New York.
Born April 29, 1922, Perry Willis Lindsey was one of the famed Tuskegee Airmen. He graduated from flight training at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama on October 16, 1945, Class 45-G-TE (Twin-Engine Bomber) as a 2nd Lieutenant. He served as a pilot in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II and the Korean War. He achieved the rank of 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. He went on to become the first Black-American principal in the Long Beach Unified School District, Long Beach, California. He died January 30, 2004 and is buried in Riverside National Cemetery, Riverside, California.
This Navy Korean War veteran was the first Black-American to hold the position of city attorney of Berkeley, California. He was deputy district attorney for Alameda County, California from 1955 to 1960; president of the Oakland Branch of the NAACP in 1961, and a member of the Alameda County Superior Court from 1977-1988. He campaigned against segregation of Black-American children in Oakland schools, was a champion of civil rights reform, and fought against poverty. He died at the age of 60 on December 25, 1988.
This actor and Korean War veteran was the first Black-American to have his own television show. "Tenafly" was a detective series on NBC. McEachin has 150 film and television credits. He enlisted in the US Army in August of 1947. He served two years in Japan, then reenlisted for three more years. He was sent to Korea, where he was wounded in 1952 in the Battle of Old Baldy. He received the Silver Star and Purple Heart.
A pioneering Black-American journalist, McElroy was born May 25, 1922 in Houston, Texas. After high school he enlisted in the Navy, serving from 1940-48, mostly stationed in Asia. From 1950-52 he was an information specialist at Ellington Air Force Base near Houston. After receiving an honorable discharge he attended and graduated from Texas State University for Negroes (TSUN). During his illustrious career as a journalist he interviewed Martin Luther King Jr., Muhammad Ali, Fidel Castro, and six US presidents. He was the first black to receive a masters degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He went on to become the first black on the University of Houston faculty, first black member of the Houston Press Club, and first black to win first place for his Houston Informer editorials from the Texas Gulf Coast Press Association. McElroy died October 7, 2006.
Moore's comedy routines, songs, music albums, and acting career earned him the title of "world's first X-rated comedian". His comedy material was filled with profanity and sex. He was well-known as the character Dolemite. Born March 18, 1927 in Fort Smith, Arkansas, he joined the Army in November of 1950 and served his country for more than 34 months. He entertained troops at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, Korea and Berlin. He died October 19, 2008.
Professor Morgan was the first Black-American professor to be hired by the University of Arkansas. In 1969 he was hired by the university as an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology, which began a 40-year career at the university. He was well-known for his research on the topics of race and education. He was the co-author of The Edge of Campus: A Journal of the Black Experience at the University of Arkansas. He died on December 17, 2019.
Known as "Super Frog", Tiz Morrison was the first Black-American member of Underwater Demolition Team 1 (UDT). A World War II veteran, he also served in the Korean War, where he earned a Bronze Star. The UDT was the forerunner to our nation's Navy SEALs.
In July of 1955 he became the first Black-American Presidential aide in history, serving as Administrative Officer for Special projects on President Eisenhower's staff from 1955 to 1961. He had joined the Army in 1942, graduated from Officers Candidate School, and was discharged in 1946 as a Major of Artillery. He then attended and graduated from Rutgers Law School with a Juris Doctor degree in 1948. After a clerkship in Englewood, New Jersey, Morrow briefly returned to active duty in the armed forces during the Korean War. In 1950 Morrow joined the Columbia Broadcasting Company (CBS) as a public-affairs writer. In 1952 General Dwight Eisenhower's Presidential campaign hired Morrow as a personal adviser and administrative assistant. After the election he was appointed advisor on Business affairs in the department of Commerce, a post he held until 1955.
He joined the US Navy in 1944 as the second black chaplain. Twenty-two years later (1966) he became the first Black-American officer to attain the rank of captain. He died on April 16, 2007 in Norfolk, Virginia.
He was the first black Marine Corps pilot. He flew with Attack Fighter Squadron 212 (Devil Cats). Petersen would go on to become the first Black-American Marine flag officer and retired in 1988 as a lieutenant general. "U.S. Marine Corps (1932-2015) — The son of a sugar cane plantation worker, Petersen decided to join the military after Pearl Harbor. He enlisted in the Navy in 1950 and, after completing flight training, accepted a commission as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps. The first Black-American aviator in the Marines, Petersen flew more than 350 combat missions during the Korean and Vietnam Wars, earning a Distinguished Service Medal, a Distinguished Flying Cross, and a Legion of Merit. Later, he became the first Black-American Marine to command a fighter squadron, an air group and a major base. He retired from the Marine Corps in 1988 as a three-star lieutenant general — and, in yet another "first," the first Black-American Marine Corps general. (Section 33, Grave 4571)" [Source: Arlington National Cemetery]
first black aviator to shoot down a North Korean fighter jet. In November of 1951 his F-86E was shot down by Soviet Ace Col. Yevgeny Pepelyayev, pilot of an MiG-15. Ragland survived and was taken prisoner of war to Pyok-dong prison camp. He was returned to US custody in 1953. He completed 97 combat missions in Vietnam before his plane was shot down just before he was due to be rotated home. He has been missing in action since 1966.
Born January 10, 1912, in Suffolk, Virginia, she graduated from the Lincoln Hospital School of Nursing in Durham, North Carolina. She served in the military during World War II and through 1978. She was the first black chief nurse who was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Army Nurse Corps. After the war she was assigned as head of nursing staff at the Station Hospital, Camp Beals, California. She retired as major in 1978.
Born March 18, 1925 in Richmond, Virginia, Reid graduated from Armstrong High School and then received a Bachelor's degree from Virginia Union University. He received his medical degree from Howard University. He was a Lieutenant in the Navy during the Korean War, serving with the 1st Marine Division. He later was a surgeon at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland. Dr. Reid was a civil rights activist and founder of the Richmond Crusade for Votes in 1956. He was the first Black-American elected to the Virginia Assembly since 1891, serving three terms 1968-1975. He later became regional medical officer with the United States State Department.
"Completed training with the first class of Tuskegee Airmen at the Tuskegee Institute before defending our great nation in the skies. Successfully finished the first class and was later commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1942 before becoming commander of the 99th Pursuit Squadron, making him the first Black-American commander; one of three times in total he would hold this title during his career Flew approximately 100 combat missions during World War II before resuming command of the 332nd Fighter Group in 1945. In 1950, was the first Black-American Commander of a racially-integrated Air Force unit and became a jet qualified pilot before assisting in the Korean War. Appointed as the Director of Materiel for the 313th Air Division in Okinawa, Japan and served as the Air Force Logistics Command in 1963. Served as Deputy Director of Logistics for fighter operations in Vietnam and space missiles and logistics in the Pacific Ocean area. Awards and accolades include the Distinguished Flying Cross, an Air Medal, seven commendation medals, and two Presidential unit citations.
Born on September 24, 1918, in London, West Virginia, George Spencer Roberts became one of the first class of cadets to complete training at the Tuskegee Institute before defending our great nation in the skies. Roberts graduated from high school at fifteen and went on to enroll in West Virginia State College (now West Virginia State University) where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Arts. He continued his education and received his teaching certificate before enrolling in the Civilian Pilot Training Program Unit III in 1939. Roberts entered preflight training with the first class of thirteen Black-American trainees at the Tuskegee Institute. He was among five trainees who successfully finished the first class and was later commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1942. He became commander of the 99th Pursuit Squadron, making him the first Black-American commander, one of three times in total he would hold this title during his career. His military occupation would see him engaging in dangerous missions which drew brave and heroic actions, including missions over Italy and Yugoslavia and flying reconnaissance over Austria and Germany. Roberts would fly approximately 100 combat missions during World War II before resuming command of the 332nd Fighter Group in 1945. His knowledge served others well when he became Professor of Air Science and Tactics at the Tuskegee Institute. In 1950, Roberts was the first Black-American Commander of a racially integrated Air Force unit and he became a jet qualified pilot before assisting in the Korean War. His talents extended beyond flying, as evidenced by his appointment as the Director of Materiel for the 313th Air Division in Okinawa, Japan and his time serving as the Air Force Logistics Command in 1963. He worked on the F-104 Freedom Fighter project at McClellan Air Force base while later serving as the Deputy Director of Logistics for fighter operations in Vietnam and space missiles and logistics in the Pacific Ocean area. Roberts retired from the military in 1968 with the rank of Colonel. He continued to serve his community proudly by participating on various boards and committees in the Sacramento area where he lived with his wife, Edith. His awards include the Distinguished Flying Cross, an Air Medal, seven commendation medals, two Presidential unit citations. In addition, he was named honored pioneer at the "Black Wings" exhibition at the National Air and Space Museum in 1982. The state of West Virginia proudly thanks him for his contributions to aviation." [Source: West Virginia Department of Transportation]
first Black-American military aide to a president of the USA (Lyndon Johnson. He graduated from West Point in 1954 and was a platoon leader and company commander in Korea from April 1955 to July 1956. During the Vietnam War he was executive officer of the 45th Engineer Group and then commander of the 39th Engineer Combat Battalion. He was promoted to Brigadier General, being the Army Corps of Engineers first Black-American general. He retired from the Army in 1983 and that same year he joined the Southland Corporation as vice president. He supervised the construction of Southland's corporate office complex in Dallas, Texas. In 1989 he became chairman and chief executive officer of the Tetra Group. In 2003 he held the same title with the Cranville Construction and Development Company. He was then Chief Executive Officer of Global Building Systems, then chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
a 1951 West Point graduate, was the first Black-American in the Army to hold the rank of general. During the Korean War he served as a platoon leader and rifle company commander and was the recipient of the Bronze Star. "Roscoe Robinson Jr., U.S. Army (1928-1993) — In 1982, Gen. Robinson became the first Balck-American in the Army to attain four-star rank, and the second in the military (after Daniel "Chappie" James of the U.S. Air Force). In a 34-year military career that began in 1951, the West Point graduate served with the 7th Infantry Division during the Korean War and the 1st Cavalry Division in Vietnam. He earned two Silver Stars, three Legions of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross and a Bronze Star. Gen. Robinson served as U.S. representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for the three years preceding his retirement in 1985. (Section 7A, Grave 18)" [Source: Arlington Cemetery website]
"On a barnstorming trip to the United States, Santiago caught the eye of John Beckwith, manager of the Atlanta Black Crackers in '45. He played half the season with Atlanta before jumping to the Cubans, where he played short and second. Two years later, he became the first black Puerto Rican to play organized baseball, signing with the Stamford Bombers in the Continental League. Santiago's signing created opportunities in the United States for Minnie Minoso, Roberto Clemente and other men with dark skin and Latino blood. In 1951, Bill Veeck invited Santiago to training camp with the Indians, but he didn't go. Uncle Sam drafted him and sent him to Korea. After he returned, he continued to play in various leagues in the United States and outside. His play in his homeland, Puerto Rico, earned Santiago induction into the country's Hall of Fame in 1993."
Originally from Elgin, Texas and a high school teacher, Shaw joined the Marine Corps and trained at Montford Point in 1946. In 1949 he became the first black drill instructor at Parris Island's new non-segregated recruiting class. He served at Camp Pendleton and the Marine Corps Logistics Base at Barstow, California. He retired from active duty in 1962 but remained in the Marine Corps Reserves until 1973. While in the service he and Jim Jones opened Shaw's BBQ Pit in Santa Ana, California in 1956.
first black chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court. Born September 06, 1930 in Salem, Virginia, Judge Shaw received his law degree in 1957 from Howard University, Washington, D.C. Shaw was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1960. He was appointed in 1983 and retired January 2003. During the Korean War he served as an artillery officer.
first Black-American to attended the University of Florida Law School. He served in top roles in numerous Wall Street companies. He was given the University of Florida's Distinguished Alumnus award in 2009. At the end of the Korean War he served in the Air Force in Japan.
See Notable Female Veterans section.
Born August 9, 1925 in Jacksonville, Florida, Colonel Taylor worked as typesetter and pressman for his family's business, Taylor and Son Printing Company until 1943. He joined the Navy, serving three years in the Pacific during World War II. In 1946 he enlisted in the Tuskegee Institute Reserve Officer Training Corps. During the Korean War he served with the 82nd Airborne Division. In 1971 he was the first Black-American promoted to full colonel. He served in the US Army for 25 years.
"Theus is the first and only mission support officer of the Tuskegee Airmen to be promoted to general and the third black Air Force general after Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., and Daniel Chappie James. During World War II, he served as a member of the 332nd Fighter group. After World War II, he quickly ascended the ranks as an Air Force personnel officer. After a race riot between black and white enlisted men and noncommissioned officers at Travis Air Force Base in 1971, Theus was called in to administer programs to address equal opportunity and communication across races in the military, initiatives that had first been inspired nearly 30 years earlier through the success of the Tuskegee Airmen. Born in 1922, he died in 2007. [Source: History website]
Born in Huddy, Kentucky in 1929, Dr. Towles graduated from West Virginia State College and the University of Louisville Medical School. He was a Korean War veteran. When Vernon Jordan, then president of the Urban League, was shot by a sniper in 1980, Towles led the surgery team that operated on him and saved his life. He was the first Black-American president of the Ft. Wayne, Indiana, school board in 1987. Dr. Towles died in 2004.
This pioneering helicopter warrant officer served three years in the Army Air Corps and then joined the regular Army in 1949. He served in Korea with the all-black 2nd Ranger Company, where he was wounded and returned to duty. He received the Bronze Star in Korea. After a stint in the Dominican Republic and graduation from flight school he served 32 months in Vietnam with the 228th of the 1st Cavalry, 5th Special Forces Group and the 205th Assault Support Helicopter Company. For his service in Vietnam he received four Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Bronze Stars, 50 Air Meals, and four Army Commendation medals. He retired with 10,500 flight hours.
On August 21, 1943, Harriet M. Waddy West (1904–1999) became the first black woman major in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), which later became the Women's Army Corps (WAC). She was at the time chief of planning in the Bureau of Control Division at WAAC Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Waddy was born in Jefferson City, Missouri, and was a graduate of Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science. During the Great Depression, she worked as an aide to noted educator and civic leader Mary McLeod Bethune, who no doubt influenced Waddy's decision to join the WAAC. She entered officer candidate school in 1942. During World War II, Waddy was one of the two highest-ranking black officers in the WAAC and served as its wartime advisor on racial issues. She was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1948 and served on active duty until she retired in 1952; she remained in the Reserves until 1969. During her time after retirement from active military duty, she worked for the Federal Aviation Administration and also served as a counselor for girls at a Job Corps Center in Oregon. Waddy was an active recruiter of black women for the WAAC and served for a time as an aide to its director, Oveta Culp Hobby. She also campaigned against the existing racial discrimination in the military. She moved to Las Vegas in 1998 and was in residence there at the time of her death. [Source: The Handy African-American History Answer Book]
A World War II and Korean War veteran, Clifton Walker was en route home from his late work shift in Wilkinson County, Mississippi, when he was ambushed by KKK members. The date was February 28, 1964. He was the first Black-American murdered by the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. He was killed by a close-range shotgun blast. Also murdered that year by this Klan where James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Micky Schwerner, all members of the Freedom Summer effort to register Black-Americans to vote in Mississippi. Walker was born in 1927 in Woodville, Mississippi.
He was the first Black-American to graduate from the US Air Force Test Pilot School, the first Black-American to become a jet pilot instructor, and the first Black-American to fly a Boeing B-47 Stratojet bomber. [See also: Tuskegee Airmen section.]
Born October 11, 1924, in Bay City, Texas, Mal joined the US Army Air Corps during World War II, became a Tuskegee airman, and flew with the 447th Bombardment Group. He then went on to fly 27 combat missions in Korea. Prior to joining the military, he was a track and field competitor that won two gold medals and one bronze medal in the 1948 Olympic games. In 1952 he entered the Olympics in Helsinki, Finland and won a gold and silver medal. He was the first Black-American active-duty serviceman to receive an Olympic gold. He was also the first black athlete to receive the John E. Sullivan Award for being the outstanding amateur athlete in the United States. In 1974 he was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame.
As a 1st Sergeant in the 960th Quartermaster Service Company during World War II, Jefferson and the other men in his company had the job of burying over 20,000 fallen Americans in the new Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial at Margraten, Netherlands. He was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant by General Patton, becoming one of the first black officers in the U.S. Army. During the Korean War he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant. After the two wars he became involved in the civil rights movement in Alabama. In the 1960s he was director of social services at a college in New Jersey. His experiences at Margraten were documented in the publication, From Alabama to Margraten by author Mieke Kirkels.
A Korean War veteran and Bronze Star recipient, Wilder was born in 1931 in Church Hill, Richmond, Virginia. He was the grandson of slaves and became the nation's first Black-American governor when he took office in Virginia on January 13, 1990.
This former Tuskegee airman was Maine's first black attorney. "Born in 1922, Williams dreamed of someday attending flight school and was the first member of his family to ever be issued a birth certificate. He joined the U.S. Army Air Corps upon graduation from high school in New York City, but because of the enforced segregation in the U.S. Armed Forces at that time, Williams was assigned as a cadet in a new pilot training program for Black-Americans at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama." [Source: Ed Pierce, Windham Eagle]
A Master Barber in the Chicago, Illinois area, Poochie Williams was born January 14, 1933, in Waukegan, Illinois, and died November 3, 1991, in Zion, Illinois. A Korean War veteran of the United States Air Force, Williams was a founder and the first president of the American Barber Association.
Born in Annapolis, Maryland, Williams graduated from Hampton Institute in 1942. He then joined the United States Navy and served in World War II and Korea. He was the first Black-American graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy.
Better known as Flip Wilson, this Golden Globe winning actor lied about his age and joined the Air Force at the age of 16. His barracks mates nicknamed him "Flip" because he claimed he was always "flipped out". After discharge from the Air Force in 1954, he began a career in comedy that caused Time magazine to put Wilson on its cover as "TV's first black superstar" in 1972. A favorite guest on The Tonight Show, Laugh-In, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Dean Martin Show and Here's Lucy. He caused millions of laughs with his characters Geraldine Jones and Reverend Leroy, and by saying, "The devil made me do it." He died November 26, 1998, in Malibu, California.