(CNN) — Frank Petersen, the first African-American Marine aviator, died this week at 83.
Petersen, who served for 38 years, was “a pioneer and warrior,” the Marine Corps said Wednesday in announcing his death.
Details about how or where he died were not available, but media reports said he died from lung cancer.
Petersen retired in 1988 as a lieutenant general and the first black general in Marines’ history.
He told The Washington Post at the time of his military retirement that he felt he had improved things for African-Americans.
“As much as I would like to philosophize and say that it hasn’t, it has made a difference,” he told the newspaper of his career.
Petersen enlisted in the Navy in 1950 and a year later entered the Naval Aviation Cadet Program. A year after that, after completing his training, he became the first African-American pilot in the Marines.
He flew combat missions over Korea and Vietnam. According to The New York Times, he and his F-4 were shot down in 1968.
Even before his military career started, he faced racial stigmas. A recruiter had him retake his entrance exam because, Petersen once said, his score was high and the recruiter must have thought he cheated.
Another time he was accused by a Marine captain of impersonating an officer. He was arrested despite the fact he really was a second lieutenant.
After leaving active duty in 1988, Petersen worked for DuPont as a vice president for corporate aviation, The New York Times reported. He left the corporate world in 1997.
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