Davis, Ossie, T/5

Ossie Davis was born Raiford Chatman Davis, however, his name was officially registered as "Ossie" when a clerk misheard Davis' mother pronounce her newborn sons initials "R.C."  Laura Davis did not correct the clerk, according to the Saresota Herald Tribune.  His father was Kince Charles Davis (railroad engineer) and his mother was Laura (Cooper) Davis (housewife).  His sister was Essie Mae and his brothers were Kenneth, William, and James.  Ossie married Ruby Dee on 9 December 1948 in New Jersey.  They had one son, Guy Davis (Blues Musician - 12 May 1952) and 2 daughters, Nora Day and Hasna Muhammud (Doctor).  Ossie was educated at Center High School in Waycross, Georgia.  In 1935 he hitchhiked to Washington, D.C. to live with his Aunts while he attended Howard University eventually graduating with a BA in 1939.  He also attended Columbia University sometime after WWII.  Davis enlisted in the Army the month after the U.S. was attacked by the Japenese (Dec 7, 1941) on January 4, 1942 at Fort Benning, Georgia.  Because of his background and college he quickly found himself going to Washington, D.C. for training at the Army Medical Center.  He was to go with a group of about 30 black males to Monrovia, Liberia to set up the first all Negro hospital (the Army was still segregated at this time).  The unit was the 25th Station Hospital.  We still have to research and find out the unit it was attached to.  They arrived in Liberia in June, 1942.   Davis was trained as a scrub nurse, however, he eventually became head of the surgical ward.  His unit also had the job of gaurding the Airport at Robertsfield, Liberia.  Later, Ossie also became part of the Special Service Department where he wrote and produced stage works to entertain the military personnel.  Among these was the Goldbrikers of 1944, which was first produced in Liberia.  During all of this Ossie remained a surgical technician.  He spent a total of 32 months in Monrovia, Liberia before coming home in February, 1945.  He was discharged on 11 October, 1945, 4 years and 9 months of service.