Ingalls-built U.S. Navy AEGIS guided missile destroyer, Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 121) is named for Lieutenant General Frank E. Petersen Jr.
Frank Emmanuel Petersen Jr. served as the first African American U.S. Marine Corps aviator, the first African American U.S. Marine Corps general, and was a United States Marine Corps lieutenant general.
Petersen was born in Topeka, Kansas, in 1932. After one year at Washburn University, he left college to enlist in the United States Navy. Petersen did so well on the entrance exam that the recruiter made him take the test a second time.
Training to be an electronics technician in 1950, Petersen heard the story of Jesse Brown, the first black Navy pilot who was shot down and killed in North Korea. Brown’s story inspired him to apply to the Naval Aviation Cadet Corp, which he entered in 1951. In October 1952, Petersen completed flight training, accepted a commission as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps, and became the first black aviator in Marine Corps history.
Peterson accumulated more than 5,000 hours in fighter and attack planes. He completed a tour in Korea where he earned the Distinguished Flying Cross. He was also awarded the Purple Heart during the Vietnam War when his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire and he was forced to eject.
While serving in the Marines, Petersen earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in international affairs, graduating from George Washington University in 1973. Later he earned a promotion to brigadier general and was named the NAACP’s “Man of the Year” in 1979. In 1986, Petersen earned a promotion to lieutenant general, and became commanding general of the Combat Development Command in Quantico, VA. He retired in 1988.
After his retirement from the Marines, Petersen worked as vice president of corporate aviation for DuPont Corp. He is the author of Into the Tiger’s Jaw: America’s First Black Marine Aviator. Petersen died from lung cancer in 2015 when he was 83.
Read about Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 121) ship construction milestones: