Presentation of a Scroll to Brigadier General Benjamin O. Davis Upon His Retirement From the U.S. Army
It is a genuine pleasure to sign this special testimonial of the admiration and esteem of your host of Army comrades.
You are one of the select few who have devoted a half century in the active military service to the defense of the United States of America and the ideals of freedom and justice for which this country stands.
You have exemplified by your distinguished accomplishments in places of great trust and responsibility, too numerous to recount here, all that is best in a soldier of the highest type.
HARRY S. TRUMAN
Note: The presentation was made by the President in a ceremony at the White House at 12:45 p.m. The scroll was also signed by Kenneth C. Royall, Secretary of the Army, and Gen. Omar N. Bradley, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army.
The Army's first Negro general entered the military service in 1898, serving as a temporary first lieutenant during the war with Spain. Mustered out in 1899, he enlisted as a private. He became an officer in 1901 and retired in 1948 a brigadier general. During his career, in addition m active service at many posts, he served as professor of military science and tactics at Wilberforce University and at Tuskegee Institute, as military attaché in Monrovia, Liberia, and as Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Army.
Harry S Truman, Presentation of a Scroll to Brigadier General Benjamin O. Davis Upon His Retirement From the U.S. Army Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/232688
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