FREE COMMEMORATIVE BOOKLET WITH YOUR ORDER

In this booklet we have selected a number of noteworthy West Point graduates who by the bent of their character, personality,
intelligentsia and perseverance entered and four years later graduated from West Point.
Each has an inspiring story of achievement in overcoming substantial physical and social obstacles.

December 18, 1912

GEN. BENJAMIN OLIVER DAVIS, JR.

The founder and first commander of the legendary World War II Tuskegee Airmen, the first black fighter pilots, was Benjamin O. Davis, Jr who graduated West Point in 1936. At the time of his graduation, the only other African-American officer in the US Army was his father, Colonel Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. (who would retire as Brigadier General).

Anniston, AL in 1940

GEN. FRED A. GORDEN

His last assignments were in Washington, D.C. As Commanding General, Military District of Washington, he was frequently the Ranking Officer responsible for escorting dignitaries. He escorted the Nixon family to the funeral of President Nixon. He escorted South African President Nelson Mandela to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. When President Clinton found that the former commander of the Tuskegee Airmen Lieutenant General Benjamin O. Davis (USMA 1936) had not been promoted to full General no doubt due to matters of race, he promoted him in 1996, 30 years after he had retired. Major General Gorden escorted General Davis to the ceremony, and they became close friends until his death in 2002. While we celebrate many of these pioneers, it is often hard to imagine the challenges they faced at the time. General Davis described to Gorden, as he also does in his autobiography, that he had not returned to West Point from 1936 until 1987, the painful memories of being ostracized for four years at West Point as the fourth African-American graduate made returning to West Point undesirable. Major General Gorden closed his career in 1996, retiring as Army Chief of Public Affairs.

August 8, 1953

GEN. LLOYD JAMES AUSTIN, III

The first African-American to command an entire theater of war was General Lloyd Austin, Class of 1975, who commanded the Iraq War and who coincidentally, like Henry O. Flipper, hails from Thomasville, Georgia. General Austin was the Commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) and his area of responsibility includes many of the hot spots of the world: Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan and Iran to name a few.

October 11, 1928

GEN. ROSCOE ROBINSON, JR.

In the summer of 1947, Roscoe Robinson entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he was one of a small number of African-Americans admitted. Robinson took away many things from West Point: a first-rate education (graduating with a bachelor’s of science in engineering); leadership skills; a love for athletics; a deep respect for the Academy; and the lifelong camaraderie of his classmates. His graduating class also included four other African-Americans, which, at that time, was the largest number of African-American cadets ever to graduate from the Academy.

August 8, 1953

GEN. VINCENT KEITH BROOKS

The first African-American Cadet First Captain was Vincent Brooks, West Point Class of 1980. Vincent Brooks is now a four-star General and the current Commander of U.S. Forces Korea, United Nations Command, and Republic of Korea – U.S. Combined Forces Command.

March 21, 1856

HENRY O. FLIPPER

Henry Ossian Flipper was the first African-American graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY.  He was born a slave on March 21, 1856 in Thomasville, Georgia, and died on May 3, 1940 in Atlanta, Georgia.  He was the eldest of 5 brothers.  During his lifetime he was accomplished as a solider, civil engineer, author, newspaper editor, surveyor, cartographer and pioneer in the oil industry.

US LEGACY ARTHERITAGE COLLECTION