Rosy Glow – Memorial Day 2015

by

Andrew DeMarco

This Monday is Memorial Day where we remember those who died while serving in the armed forces. This holiday was originally known as Decoration Day and originated after the Civil War to commemorate both Union and Confederate soldiers who died in the war. By the 20^th Century, Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who died while serving in the military.

I would like to remember all those who sacrificed their lives, to make this country warts and all, the great nation that it is today. I would also like to remember this Memorial Day Benjamin O. Davis, who although did not die in battle, made great sacrifices none the less. I learned about Benjamin O. Davis while reading an article in our local paper.

The U.S. Military Academy at West Point is constructing a new cadet barracks that will be six stories tall and house 650 cadets with a granite exterior to match the nearby Cadet Chapel on the same hillside. The naming of barracks is a rare privilege and usually reserved for such names like MacArthur and Eisenhower. These new barracks will be named after Benjamin O. Davis Jr. Who is Benjamin O. Davis you might ask?

While the Academy had graduated its first black cadets at the tail end of Reconstruction in 1877, no other black cadet had graduated in the 20^th century until Cadet Davis arrived. Benjamin O. Davis was a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point class of 1936 and was a Jackie Robinson and Rosa Parks well before their times. Cadet Davis was the first black cadet of the 20^th century and the only black cadet at the Academy during his time there. For this reason it seems that those at the Academy back then silenced and shunned Cadet Davis which was a punishment reserved for those who violated the honor code. He did not have a roommate and was spoken to only when needed. He was thought of as inferior by the rest of the Corps of Cadets and endured this treatment for 4 years even though he had attended the University of Chicago and his father Benjamin O. Davis Sr. would soon become the first African American General in the United States Army. In addition to all this, he still graduated 35^th in a class of 276.

In his autobiography Davis wrote, “What they did not realize was that I was stubborn enough to put up with their treatment to reach the goal I had come to obtain.” And attain he certainly did. When he graduated in 1936 and entered the army as a Second Lieutenant he and his father at that time were the only two black line officers in the army.

During World War II he was assigned to the Tuskegee Airmen and then later commanded the 322^nd  fighter group of the Airmen known as the “Red Tails”. During his service in WWII he received the Silver Star and Distinguished Flying Cross. Later in 1947 when the Army Air Corp. was spun off from the army, then Colonel Davis joined the Air Force and was promoted thus becoming the first black general of the Air Force. He went on to serve until 1970 when he retired as a three star General, but his service to his country was not over. Lt.Gen. Davis went on to head the federal sky marshal program and in 1971 was named Assistant Secretary of Transportation. He was later awarded a fourth star in 1998 by President Clinton.

Here is a man who endured countless insults and mental abuses for the country he loved and proved that there is truly nothing that one cannot accomplish as long as he or she has the determination and drive to do so. The real irony is that by the time he graduated he had earned the respect of his classmates as shown by their testament to him in their class yearbook.

“The courage, tenacity, and intelligence with which he conquered a problem incomparably more difficult than plebe year won for him the sincere admiration of his classmates, and his single-minded determination to continue in his chosen career cannot fail to inspire respect wherever fortune may lead him.”

He is the perfect example of what this country is all about, that opportunities abound and it is up to the individual to strive to achieve their goals, that the only thing that limits us is ourselves. This is what all those heroes whom we honor on Memorial Day gave their lives for, for us to have the opportunity to achieve, and to continue to make this country great.

So this Memorial Day let us honor those that have given their lives for their country and faced adversity like Benjamin Davis, and also to all those others who were given the opportunity, faced adversity and achieved their goals, like a Jackie Robinson, a Lucido Capozzola and a Salvatore DeMarco. When January 2017 rolls around and the new Davis Barracks are expected to be open and dedicated, I know I will be thinking of all those who gave their lives and to those who have achieved and lived their version of the American Dream and it will give me that feeling that Cousin Bob would call that….. Rosy Glow.