Edward William Brooke, III (born October 26, 1919), is an American  politician  and was the first African American to be elected by popular vote to the United States Senate when he was elected as a Republican  from Massachusetts in 1966, defeating his Democratic  opponent, Endicott Peabody, 60.7%–38.7%. He was also the first African American elected to the Senate since the 19th century, and would remain the only person of African heritage sent to the Senate in the 20th century until Democrat Carol Moseley Braun in 1993, and would remain the last Republican Senator from Massachusetts until the 2010 election of Scott Brown. Upon his graduation from Howard University in 1941, he spent five years as an officer in the Army, and saw combat in Italy during World War II as a member of the segregated 366th Infantry Regiment. Two days after his 90th birthday, Brooke was presented with the Congressional Gold Medal on October 28, 2009
Harrison Dillard, born in Cleveland, Ohio, attended East Technical High School. He entered Baldwin-Wallace College in 1941  and two years later was drafted into the Army. He returned to college in 1946 and resumed athletics, to which he had been inspired by Jesse Owens, who was also from Cleveland and had attended East Technical High School as well.However, at the trials for the 1948 Summer Olympics, Dillard failed to qualify for the 110 m hurdles event, though he qualified as third (and last) for the 100 m, not his specialty.
At the Games, Dillard reached the final, which seemed to end in a dead heat between Dillard and another American, Barney Ewell. The finish photo showed Dillard had won, equalling the World record as well. As a member of the 4 x 100 m relay team, he won another gold medal at the London Games.Four years later, still a strong hurdler, Dillard did qualify for the 110 m hurdles event, and won the event in Helsinki. Another 4 x 100 m relay victory yielded Dillard's fourth Olympic title.Dillard attempted to qualify for a third Olympics in 1956, but faile
Brigadier General Roscoe Conklin Cartwright, affectionately known as “Rock,” forged an impressive record during his 33 years of Army service. He overcame seemingly insurmountable barriers during his service, provided mentoring for young officers ascending through the military ranks and laid a roadmap that lives on today through his legacy.
Serving in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, General Cartwright became was the first black Field Artilleryman promoted to Brigadier General and would eventually serve in the Pentagon. In 1974, shortly after his retirement from active service, General Cartwright and his wife, Gloria, died in a commercial airplane crash while returning to their home outside of Washington, D.C. General Cartwright returned to his wife in the United States with intentions on returning to a civilian life and finishing college. While the 599th was temporarily stationed at Camp Robinson near Little Rock, Arkansas, he had met and married Gloria Lacefied who was from nearby Hope, Arkansas. However, as General Cartwright stated, “When I arrived in November, all the schools were full. So I decided to remain in the Army another year.” The Cartwright family, eventually including four children, would live not only in several US cities, but also in Germany, Korea and Japan as General Cartwright’s continued success in the Army would lead to a military career.After a transfer into the “regular” Army, which was unprecedented for a black officer, General Cartwright was promoted to Captain and served a combat tour in Korea. Next, in 1954, was a promotion to Major and duty in Korea and Japan. He remained in Vietnam until 1971, when he became the third black promoted to Brigadier General after General Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. and General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. Awards during this time include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Air Medal, National Defense Medal, Korean Service Medal and Vietnam Service Medal among others honors and decorations. Such leadership and determination could not be contained to the battlefields. General Cartwright applied his managerial and business skills to positions as Chief of the Management Division in Post Headquarters, Comptroller of the Seventh Army Training Center, Chief of the Budget and Five Year Defense Program, Comptroller Deputy Chief of Staff at the Army headquarters in Europe and comptroller duties at the Pentagon. He retired from the Army in 1974.
Another important duty was to nurture young officers in their ascendancy through the military ranks. To this end, General Cartwright was influential in shaping a loose network of black officers nicknamed the Blue Geese. On October 9, 1974, along with Colonel Robert B. Burke, General Cartwright led an initiative to formally organize the growing network into what became temporarily known as the No Name Club until they agreed on an official name. Shortly thereafter, on December 1st, the No Name Club was assembled to vote on a name when they received the news that General Cartwright and his wife had died in a plane crash that day.
Even his tragic death would not interrupt the spirit of nurturing and commitment embodied by General Cartwright as it became his legacy. The No Name Club soon voted to name itself The ROCKs, Inc. and establish the Roscoe C. Cartwright Scholarship Fund in their namesake’s honor. This influence spread far and wide in the military as The ROCKS, Inc. currently boast over a dozen affiliations and over 1200 worldwide members including former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Colin L. Powell. One member, General Roy Bell, described General Cartwright as one who would “take you under his wing” and help young officers make important connections and choose the right path as he did when General Bell was a young officer.Outside of the military, General Cartwright was a 33rd degree Prince Hall Mason. His former lodge in Oxen Hill, Maryland, is now known as the Roscoe C. Cartwright Prince Hall Masonic Lodge #129. Additionally, he was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. which named him Alpha of the Year in 1971.
Besides the four children, his biological legacy includes eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. The gravesite is located in Arlington National Cemetery near the John F. Kennedy gravesite.
Parren James Mitchell (April 29, 1922 – May 28, 2007),  was a U.S. Congressman who represented the 7th congressional district of Maryland  from January 3, 1971 to January 3, 1987. He was the first African-American elected to Congress from Maryland.Mitchell graduated from Frederick Douglass Senior High School (Baltimore, Maryland) in 1940. Mitchell served as an officer in the 92nd Infantry Division  during World War II, and was wounded in Italy; he received the Purple Heart.
ROBERT P. MADISON Architect and entrepreneur Robert P. Madison was born in Cleveland, Ohio  in 1923. He graduated from Cleveland's East Technical High School with honors in mathematics and science in 1940. He attended the School of Architecture at Howard University, but left to serve in World War II as a second lieutenant. He was wounded in action in the Italian Campaign, receiving the Purple Heart and three combat ribbons.Architect and entrepreneur Robert P. Madison was born in Cleveland, Ohio  in 1923. He graduated from Cleveland's East Technical High School with honors in mathematics and science in 1940. He attended the School of Architecture at Howard University, but left to serve in World War II as a second lieutenant. He was wounded in action in the Italian Campaign, receiving the Purple Heart and three combat ribbons. 
Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981), better known as Joe Louis, was the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1937 to 1949 and joined the 92nd Infantry Division. Nicknamed the Brown Bomber, Louis helped elevate boxing from a nadir in popularity in the post-Jack Dempsey era by establishing a reputation as an honest, hardworking fighter at a time when the sport was dominated by gambling interests.[1][2]  Louis's championship reign lasted 140 consecutive months, during which he participated in 27 championship fights, including 25 successful title defenses – all records for the heavyweight division. In 2005, Louis was named the greatest heavyweight of all time by the International Boxing Research Organization,[3]  and was ranked number one on Ring Magazine's list of 100 Greatest Punchers of All Time.Louis contacted Gibson in order to facilitate the Officer Candidate School (OCS) applications of a group of African Americans at Fort Riley, which had been inexplicably delayed for several months.Among the OCS applications Louis facilitated turned out to be that of a young Jackie Robinson, later to break the baseball color barrier. The episode would spawn a personal friendship between the two men.Although Louis never saw combat, his military service would see challenges of its own. During his travels he would often experience blatant racism. On one occasion, a military policeman (MP) ordered Louis and Ray Robinson to move their seats to a bench in the rear of an Alabama Army camp bus depot. "We ain't moving," said Louis. The MP tried to arrest them, but Louis forcefully argued the pair out of the situation. In another incident, Louis allegedly had to resort to bribery to persuade a commanding officer to drop charges against Jackie Robinson for punching a Captain who had called Robinson a "nigger.
Louis was eventually promoted to the rank of Sergeant, and was awarded the Legion of Merit medal for "incalculable contribution to the general morale."[67][76] Receipt of the honor qualified Louis for immediate release from military service on October 1, 1945
Roscoe Lee Browne (May 2, 1925 – April 11, 2007) was an American actor and director, known for his rich voice and dignified bearing.Browne was the son of Baptist minister Sylvanus Browne and his wife Lovie (born Lovie Lee). Born in Woodbury, New Jersey, Browne first attended historically black Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, where he became a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity and graduated with a bachelor's degree when he returned after he served in the 92nd Division, in 1946. He undertook postgraduate work at Middlebury College in Vermont, Columbia University in New York City, and at the University of Florence in Italy.is most memorable film roles include Alfred Hitchcock's Topaz, the title character in William Wyler's final film, The Liberation of L.B. Jones, and as the narrator in Babe and its sequel Babe: Pig in the City. He is also known for his voice role as the Kingpin in Spider-Man: The Animated Series
Daniel Ken "Dan" Inouye is an American  politician and US Senator. Born on September 7, 1924 in Honolulu, Hawaii, Inouye is a Nisei Japanese-American (an American-born child of Japanese immigrants), the son of Kame Imanaga and Hyotaro Inouye.n 1943, when the U.S. Army dropped its ban on Japanese-Americans, Inouye curtailed his premedical studies at the University of Hawaii and enlisted in the Army. He was assigned to the Nisei 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which became the most-highly decorated unit in the history of the Army. During the World War II campaign in Europe he received the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, and the Distinguished Service Cross, which was later upgraded, by President Clinton in June 2000, to the Medal of Honor.
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MARSHALL ALLEN  was born in Louisville, Kentucky.During the Second World War he enlisted in the 92nd Infantry Division and was stationed in France and Italy. Allen studied alto saxophone in Paris and played in Europe with Art Simmons and James Moody.Allen is best-known for his work with eccentric keyboardist/bandleader Sun Ra, having recorded and performed mostly in this context since the late 1950s, and having led Sun Ra's "Arkestra" since 1993. Critic Jason Ankeny  describes Marshall as "one of the most distinctive and original saxophonists of the postwar era."
LAWRENCE PIERCE(born December 31, 1924)  In 1971, President Richard Nixon named Pierce to serve as a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. After Pierce served as a district judge for ten years, in 1981, President Ronald Reagan promoted him to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Pierce became the third African-American to serve on the Second Circuit, following Thurgood Marshall and Amalya L. Kearse.
CLARENCE BLOUNT was the first African American to be the majority leader of the Maryland State Senate.One month after Blount entered Morgan State College, he was drafted into the then segregated United States Army to fight in World War II. He served with distinction in Italy as a member of the all-black Buffalo Division of the 92nd Infantry. The courage and dedication to duty that he demonstrated while removing mines from a river passage earned him a battlefield commission.