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Frank Petersen, first black Marine aviator and general dead at 83

By Marilyn Malara
Retired Lt. Gen. Frank E. Petersen, Jr. was the first African-American Marine Corps aviator and the first African-American Marine Corps general. Petersen died Aug. 25, 2015. Photo courtesy of U.S. Marine Corps.
Retired Lt. Gen. Frank E. Petersen, Jr. was the first African-American Marine Corps aviator and the first African-American Marine Corps general. Petersen died Aug. 25, 2015. Photo courtesy of U.S. Marine Corps.

STEVENSVILLE, Md., Aug. 28 (UPI) -- Frank E. Petersen, Jr., the United States' first African-American Marine Corps aviator and general has died. He was 83 years old.

The Marines broke news of his passing late Thursday. The retired lieutenant general died in his Stevensville, Md. home from complications associated with lung cancer on Tuesday.

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"[He was] a pioneer and role model in many ways," Gen. John M. Paxton, Jr. said in a statement given by the military branch. "[He was] a stellar leader, Marine officer and aviator."

Petersen served in the Navy before being commissioned into the Marine Corps in 1952. He flew more than 350 combat missions in Korea and Vietnam before retiring in 1988.

In 1998, Petersen published his autobiography, Into the Tiger's Jaw: America's First Black Marine Aviator, where he wrote about the slew of hate mail he received as he progressed up the military ranks.

"Some of it [came], I am sure, from certain officers wearing stars," he recalled. "Even though not everybody in the Corps was overjoyed at my selection," he said, he felt like "a winner."

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Petersen received several military awards during his career, including the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit with valor device, Distinguished Flying Cross, a Purple Heart and the Meritorious Service Medal.

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