Full Text of SR0212 100th General Assembly
SR0212 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Benjamin O. Davis Sr. was born on July 1, 1877 in
| 3 | | Washington, D.C. to Louis Davis, a servant to General John A. | 4 | | Logan
and Henrietta Davis; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Benjamin Davis Sr. entered Howard University in
| 6 | | 1897 and became a member of the black unity of the National
| 7 | | Guard; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, On July 13, 1898, Benjamin Davis Sr. enlisted as a | 9 | | volunteer
soldier in the 8th United States Volunteer Infantry | 10 | | during the Spanish-American
War; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, On February 2, 1901, Benjamin Davis Sr. received a | 12 | | regular
commission and was promoted to the rank of Second | 13 | | Lieutenant,
serving with Troop M, 9th Calvary in the | 14 | | Philippines; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, In 1902, Benjamin Davis Sr. had two children, | 16 | | Olive and Benjamin
Jr., with his wife, Elnora Dickerson, who | 17 | | passed away shortly after
giving birth to their second child; | 18 | | and | 19 | | WHEREAS, Benjamin Davis Sr. was assigned to the Philippines | 20 | | as a supply
officer of the 9th Calvary Camp Stotsenburg; |
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| 1 | | shortly thereafter,
he married Sadie Overton, an English | 2 | | teacher at Wilberforce
University; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, Benjamin Davis Sr. became a
professor of military | 4 | | science and tactics at Wilberforce
University, and later a | 5 | | professor of military science and tactics
at the Tuskegee | 6 | | Institute; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, In 1924, Benjamin Davis Sr. became an instructor | 8 | | of the 372nd
Infantry of the Ohio National Guard in Cleveland; | 9 | | during
the summers of 1930 to 1933, he traveled to Europe as | 10 | | the
official Army representative for the Pilgrimage of War | 11 | | Mothers
and Widows; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, In 1938, Benjamin Davis Sr. was given his first | 13 | | independent
command, the 369th National Guard Infantry | 14 | | Regiment; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, On October 25, 1940, after 42 years of service in
| 16 | | the Army, Benjamin Davis Sr. became the first black American | 17 | | General in the
U.S. Army with a promotion to Brigadier General, | 18 | | where he served as Brigade Commander at Fort Riley, Kansas with | 19 | | the 2nd Cavalry
Division; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, Benjamin Davis Sr. was appointed to the Committee | 21 | | on
Negro Troop Policies, where he helped solve racial problems
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| 1 | | within the military; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Benjamin Davis Sr. was awarded the Distinguished
| 3 | | Service Medal for combating segregation in the U.S. Armed | 4 | | Forces; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Benjamin Davis Sr. served his country for 50 | 6 | | years,
retiring in 1948; he passed away on November 26, 1970 | 7 | | and was buried in
Arlington National Cemetery; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 311 in Richton Park | 9 | | was incorporated on August 2, 2002 and named in honor
of | 10 | | General Davis; therefore, be it
| 11 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL | 12 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we honor the life and
| 13 | | legacy of General Benjamin O. Davis Sr. and declare August 2, | 14 | | 2017
as General Benjamin O. Davis Sr. Day in the State of | 15 | | Illinois.
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