Rudolph Douglas Raiford was a decorated World War II combat officer who trained and commanded the United States Infantry Buffalo Division in Italy.

[1] With piercing blue eyes and a Caucasian phenotype, First Lieutenant Raiford was mistakenly considered a white man and was, subsequently, appointed to the position of a company commander.

On February 4, 1945, plans for an attack on an enemy-fortified position necessitated safe routes of advance through the mine-and-sniper-studded terrain of Strettoia Hills.

Determined to lead every member of his patrol to safety without casualty, Raiford returned to open ground to successfully recover a wounded soldier pinned down by sniper fire.

[2] In 1988, Raiford accepted the top position of Chief of Labor Relations for the Southeast/Caribbean and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

By the end of Raiford's tenure, he had established new and improved labor relations policies throughout more than eight hundred public housing authorities.

Raiford graduated from Greensboro, North Carolina's James B. Dudley High School at age 16 and was admitted to Washington, D.C.'s Howard University.