“The younger Davis was the fourth-ever cadet at the U.S. Military Academy and had to go through horrible treatment before graduating.”
I think you meant fourth-ever Negro/black cadet. :-P
Davis Jr did what all great leaders do ; use their experiences in later command.
He flat out told the men at Tuskegee they had to be better than any white pilot because their white trainers and officers would use any excuse to wash them out.
He was merciless in his pursuit of discipline. No infraction, no matter how small escaped him. He knew politicians in DC would be more than happy to pull the plug on the army’s “Negro Experiment”.
By wars end allied bomber crews called them the Red Tailed Angels.
The Luftwaffe called them the Black Bird Men.
IMVHO Ben Davis Jr MADE the Tuskegee Airmen.
Great film: “The Tuskegee Airmen” is on youtube. Far better than “Redtails”, IMHO.
I’m sure that’s not what they really called them LOL