Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Jefferson was one of the first Black fighter pilots, serving during World War II, when racism was still rampant in the U.S. He died in 2022.
In 2015 Jefferson told WDET when he was shot down over enemy territory his captors treated him with more respect than many of his own comrades.
JEFFERSON: “There’s a German soldier with a big gun pointing at me and all I could say is ‘Okay, you got me.’ I could tell by his eyes it was a surprise, my being Black. But when he saw the little gold bar on my shoulder he saluted me.”
Michigan U.S. Senator Gary Peters pushed to name the Mt. Clemens post office after Jefferson, who had worked as a mail carrier and later a teacher in the Detroit public school system.