Richard Riehle!

A black US Army general in '69? There was Davis, but he was Air Force. Oliver Dillard didn't become a general until the 70s, and he was stationed over in Vietnam in intelligence.

The moral of the story ends up being that doing the right thing is worthwhile and eventually gets results.

Also gets you fired. And all the people doing the wrong thing get promotions. As it always has and always will be.