Telling the Story of America’s First Black Generals

WHEN THE MOVIE RED TAILS CAME OUT IN 2012, DOUG MELVILLE WAS INVITED TO A SCREENING. RED TAILS TELLS A STORY OF AMERICA’S FIRST BLACK FLYING SQUADRON, AND MELVILLE WAS A DESCENDANT OF THE RED TAILS COMMANDER BENJAMIN O. DAVIS JR. BUT MELVILLE SOON LEARNED DAVIS IN THE MOVIE WAS GIVEN A DIFFERENT FICTIONAL NAME, AND THE MORE HE LOOKED INTO IT, THE MORE HE SAW THAT HIS FAMILY’S GROUNDBREAKING IMPACT ON THE US MILITARY WAS LARGELY LEFT OUT OF HISTORY BOOKS. SURE, THERE WAS BENJAMIN O. DAVIS JR, BUT THERE WAS ALSO BENJAMIN O. DAVIS, SENIOR, AMERICA’S FIRST BLACK GENERAL. MELVILLE HAS SINCE GONE ON A MISSION UNCOVERING HIS FAMILY’S STORY, AND HE WRITES ABOUT IT IN HIS NEW BOOK. IT’S CALLED INVISIBLE GENERALS. IT’S SO NICE TO HAVE YOU. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME. OF COURSE, OF COURSE. SO TALK TO ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT SOME OF THE I DON’T EVEN THINK THE WORD LIKE RACIAL OBSTACLES. THAT’S JUST NOT ENOUGH. YEAH. THAT THAT BEN SENIOR WOULD HAVE TO ENCOUNTER. HE WOULD GO THROUGH, YOU KNOW, NO FOOD. HE WAS THE LAST PERSON TO EAT THE MOST UNCOMFORTABLE LIVING ACCOMMODATIONS, FULLY SEGREGATED. HATED. SO YOU GET THE WORST GUNS, THE WORST EQUIPMENT, YOU KNOW, REALLY GOING THROUGH JUST OPERATING WITH THE MINIMUM, BUT ALWAYS BEING POSITIVE AND ALWAYS SAYING WE HAVE TO MAKE A CONTRIBUTION. SO THE NEXT GENERATION CAN MAKE A CONTRIBUTION. SO WHEN HIS SON WANTED TO GET INTO WEST POINT IN 1932, THEY HAD TO MOVE THE FAMILY TO CHICAGO. SO JUST TO GET THE SIGNATURE OF THE ONLY BLACK REPRESENTATIVE WHO WAS ALLOWING BLACKS TO ENTER WEST POINT, AND THEN HE GETS TO WEST POINT AND THEY DON’T KNOW HIS RACE. SO ON THE SECOND DAY, THEY HAVE A MEETING AND THEY ALL THE CADETS, ALL THE STAFF, ALL THE FACULTY GET TOGETHER AND SAY, WE ACCIDENTALLY LET A BLACK SOLDIER AND WE WERE TO SILENCE HIM AND TREAT HIM AS IF HE’S INVISIBLE UNTIL HE DROPS OUT. SO THAT WAS WHEN BEN JR CALLED HIS DAD AND SAID, DAD, YOU KNOW, THEY JUST HAD A MEETING ABOUT ME AND HE GOES, SON, I RAISED YOU FOR THIS. THERE’S 13 MILLION BLACKS ON THE OUTSIDE THAT ARE ROOTING FOR YOU AND BEN JR SAID, IT’S TOO BAD NONE OF THEM ARE IN HERE. AND THAT BEGAN HIS QUEST FOR FOUR YEARS. HE WENT TO WEST POINT 50 WEEKS A YEAR WITH NO HUMAN INTERACTION IN IT’S AMAZING HISTORY. BEN SENIOR UM, HAD TO RETIRE. WHY? BEN DAVIS SENIOR WAS CRITICAL TO WRITING THE INTEGRATION POLICY FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. HE WAS THE ONLY GENERAL WHO HAD GONE THROUGH SEGREGATION. HE KNEW EVERY NOOK AND CRANNY, EVERY RIVET IN THE SHIP. AND WHEN HE GOT THE OPPORTUNITY TO WRITE THAT WITH TRUMAN, TRUMAN THEN ASKED HIM TO RETIRE JUST A WEEK BEFORE HE UNVEILED THE POLICY. SO BEN DAVIS SENIOR’S NAME WAS REMOVED FROM ALL THE DOCUMENTATION, AND THEN EVEN FOR BEN JUNIOR, HE WOULD BECOME A FOUR STAR GENERAL. BUT IT IT TOOK A VERY LONG TIME. AND WHAT HAPPENED IN 1967, HE WAS ELIGIBLE TO BECOME A FOUR STAR GENERAL. AMERICA’S FIRST BLACK FOUR STAR GENERAL. BUT LBJ AT THAT TIME DIDN’T FEEL HE COULD GET ANY MORE POLITICAL GAINS OUT OF ALLOWING THAT PROMOTION. HE WAS DONE. HE THAT WAS IT. THE PRESIDENTS REALLY USED BEN JUNIOR AND SENIOR, REALLY, AS POLITICAL, UM, ALLIES TO GET VOTES AND MOVE POLICY THROUGH. AND IT WASN��T UNTIL 1998, AFTER 12 YEARS OF LOBBYING BY SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN, THAT BILL CLINTON, UH, PROMOTED HIM TO A FULL FOUR STAR GENERAL. BUT WITH THAT PROMOTION IN CAME IN MY LIFE, ONE OF THE, UM, MOST EMOTIONAL MOMENTS IN OUR FAMILY BECAUSE IN ORDER TO GET THE FOURTH STAR, WHICH THEY’RE ACKNOWLEDGED, WE DID NOT GET IN THE 60S. OKAY, SO THERE’S NO CONFUSION HERE. WE’RE GOING TO THE WHITE HOUSE GROUNDS TO GET IT FROM THE PRESIDENT. SO WE KNOW THE REGAL NATURE OF THIS. BUT IN ORDER TO GET THE STAR, WE HAD TO SIGN A PIECE OF PAPER THAT SAID WE WOULD NOT GET ANY FINANCIAL COMPENSATION FROM THE YEARS BACK, OR IF HE LIVED THE YEARS FORWARD. AND YOU DIDN’T JUST WRITE THIS BOOK, YOU’VE GONE FURTHER. YES. SO PART OF MY MISSION WAS WHEN I HEARD THE STORY, TO GO BACK AND FOLLOW THEIR TRACK, TO TELL THOSE INSTITUTIONS WHERE THEY LIVED AND THEY WORKED, AND THEY WERE ASSIGNED THE STORY. AND AFTER I SHARED THE STORY AND WORKED WITH WEST POINT, UH, WE CUT THE RIBBON. IN 2017 ON THE BENJAMIN O. DAVIS JUNIOR BARRACKS, THE LARGEST, MOST EXPENSIVE BARRACKS BUILDING IN THE HISTORY OF THE CAMPUS. AMAZING. BEN USED TO ALWAYS SAY TO ME, DOUG, THE IMPOSSIBLE TAKES TIME, BUT IN TIME YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH THE IMPOSSIBLE. SO I FEEL LIKE I’M A CONTINUATION OF THEIR STORY TO DO THINGS IN MY TIME THAT THEY COULDN’T ACCOMPLISH IN THEIR TIME. CONGRATULATIONS. REALLY KEEPING THAT LINE OF DESCENDANTS WORKING TO DO WHAT THE ORIGINAL BEN SENIOR HAD SAID. YOU TAKE IT AS FAR AS IT’LL GO. THE BOOK IS CALLED INVISIBLE GENERALS. DO