Alfonza W. Davis
*Alfonza W. Davis was born on this date in 1919. He was a Black U.S. Army Air Force officer and combat fighter pilot.
Davis was born in Pensacola, Florida, and after his mother died in 1920, he moved with his father and brother to North Omaha, Nebraska. Davis graduated valedictorian from Omaha's Technical High School in 1937 and attended Creighton University, earning a Bachelor of Science in Commerce in 1941. At Creighton, he was a member of the Chamber of Commerce and the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.
Davis joined the United States Army on March 17, 1941. He later volunteered for the Army Air Corps in July 1942 and was appointed an aviation cadet. He received his flight training at Tuskegee Army Airfield, Alabama, becoming the first African American from Omaha to graduate and earn his wings as a Tuskegee Airman. Davis graduated in Class SE-43-C on March 25, 1943, and was assigned to the 302nd Fighter Squadron, 332d Fighter Group.
He was later the 332nd's Assistant Group Operations Officer. The 332d was an all-Black unit known as the "Red Tails" because of their group's distinctive identification colors. He became a captain, flying the P-39, P-47, and P-51 Mustang escort fighters. Davis's last assignment was as the squadron commander of the 99th Pursuit Squadron. During the war, the 99th destroyed 83 German aircraft. While on a reconnaissance mission to Munich, Germany, on October 29, 1944, flying P-51D-10-NA #44-14465, Davis was last sighted at 1245 hours over the northern Adriatic Sea in overcast weather conditions; he never returned to base.
A Missing Air Crew Report (#9586) was produced, and the War Department later issued a presumptive finding of death while missing in action on October 30, 1945. Davis is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery. Davis's awards and decorations included a Purple Heart, the Distinguished Flying Cross, a Distinguished Unit Citation, and the French Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 with Palm.
He was credited with one aerial victory in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations on July 16, 1944. The Tuskegee Airmen were later awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2006 as a unit.
