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February 23, 2002War hero Cal Davis still serves his countryThe late Calvin Clark Davis of Bear Lake has finally received the seven medals he so justly deserves for his heroism, service and life he gave to his country during World War II.The list is long and impressive: The Purple Heart, World War II Victory Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, Good Conduct Medal, American Defense Service Medal, Air Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross. The fact that Davis' family received these awards - some reissued and some first-time - at a school assembly at Bear Lake attended by several hundred students and two U.S. congressmen during Black History Month is a cause of celebration for all of us. Davis, the descendent of a white plantation owner and a black slave, had to lie about who he was to fight and die for his country. Like many other light-skinned multi-racial Americans of that time, Davis claimed to be white when he joined the Army Air Force in 1941 because he wanted to be assigned combat duty. Neither the Army Air Force nor his fellow crewmen knew that Davis was multi-racial. As a result, he flew 50 missions, enough to exempt him from further combat, but he volunteered to fight in Europe. He was among a bomber crew that received the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism during an 1943 attack on a Japanese airfield. Transferred to Europe at his request, Davis then became a radio operator aboard a B-17 bomber. He died Nov. 30, 1944, when his plane and another collided during an attack on oil refineries in Merseburg, Germany. Six of the bomber's nine crewmen, including Davis, were killed. If Cal Davis hadn't "passed" for white, he never would have had the opportunity to serve his country the way he did because many military leaders of that time believed African-Americans didn't have what it took to be good soldiers. Instead, blacks served in segregated units, often in menial labor jobs, such as cooks, stewards and clerks. Cal Davis stories and his medals unmask the ugly harm of racial stereotypes and how they are used to institutionalize into the very fabric of society. They underline the importance of things like Black History Month, multi-cultural curriculums that teach the contributions of all Americans, no matter what their race, religious or ethnic origin. Davis was orphaned early in life and raised in poverty by his sister during the Great Depression. He was a high school track star, a 1932 graduate of Bear Lake High School. Race was never really an issue when he was growing up in that mostly white Manistee County village. But it did make a difference to the military, which simply reflected the institutionalized segregation of that time. Even so, many African-Americans joined the armed forces to escape the oppressing poverty so many blacks were forced to live in because of the Great Depression, racism, "slave wages," lack of equal educational and job opportunities. The story of Cal Davis and his medals says something about our history, our present and our future. It says something about our growing understanding of the sad, long-term effects of America's cruel slavery era on our society and our attempts to heal by first uncovering the truths of our history and telling it. Today, Cal Davis and other brave all-American heroes who passed for white still serve their country as the truth of their "lie" is finally unveiled, toppling the harmful stereotypes of one of America's greatest foes - racism. |
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