Military

A glossary of important Black (African) American individuals from the past and present. A knowledgeable resource for all, brought to you with an artistic touch.

Guion Bluford

Guion Bluford Jr., Ph.D., is an American aerospace engineer, retired U.S. Air Force officer and fighter pilot, and former NASA astronaut, who is the first African American and the second person of African descent to go to space.

Eugene Jacques Bullard

Eugene Jacques Bullard, born Eugene James Bullard, was the first black American military pilot, although Bullard flew for France not the United States. Bullard was one of the few black combat pilots during World War I; while also a boxer and a jazz musician, he was called “L’Hirondelle noire” in French, “Black Swallow”.

Edward Joseph Dwight, Jr.

Edward Joseph Dwight Jr. is an American sculptor, author, and former test pilot. He is the first African American to have entered the Air Force training program from which NASA selected astronauts. He was controversially not selected to officially join NASA.

Henry Ossian Flipper

Henry Ossian Flipper was an American soldier, former slave and, in 1877, the first African American to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point, earning a commission as a second lieutenant in the US Army.

Marcus Garvey

Marcus Garvey, Jr. ONH was a Jamaican political activist, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL, commonly known as UNIA).

James Armistead Lafayette

James Armistead Lafayette was an enslaved African American who served the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War under the Marquis de Lafayette.

James Meredith

James Howard Meredith is an American civil rights movement figure, writer, political adviser, and Air Force veteran. In 1962, he became the first African-American student admitted to the theretofore segregated University of Mississippi, after the intervention of the federal government, an event that was a flashpoint in the civil rights movement.

Milton Lee Olive III

Milton Lee Olive III was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of America's highest military decoration ‐ the Medal of Honor ‐ for his actions in the Vietnam War. At the age of 18, Olive sacrificed his life to save others by falling on a grenade. He was the first African-American recipient of the Medal of Honor from the Vietnam War.