Derek Luke is a Howling Commando in Captain America: The First Avenger

Derek Luke's presence in Captain America: The First Avenger has been the cause of much speculation, with some folks saying he'd be a young Nick Fury or The Falcon or whatever African-American character they could conjure up.  The character that was most frequently mentioned was Gabe Jones, a member of the Howling Commandos, Nick Fury's squad of elite Army Rangers active during WWII. This being a flick that takes place almost exclusively during that time period, whether or not the Commandos would show up was a big question.  Now we have confirmations on two fronts.

Wilson Morales over at Blackfilm got the scoop. Derek Luke will in fact be Gabe Jones in the upcoming superhero flick directed by Joe Johnston. This is indicates that the Howling Commandos will in fact be a factor in the story. Just how much is anybody's guess. 

Private Gabriel Jones was first introduced in the very first issue of Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos back in 1963. The only African-American member of the squad serving an in integrated unit, he was one of Nick Fury's closest confidants. Their friendship would last into the modern day, where he would often take Fury's side in a number of major confrontations with SHIELD, ultimately retiring from the agency and restarting the Howling Commandos. 

Now the only questions are who will be the rest of the Commandos, including if there'll be a younger version of Nick Fury. I think it's a pretty safe bet there will be.

One of the weird little side notes about Gabe Jones is that his character was depicted as caucasian in the first issue of the 1963 comic, due to a mistake made by the company doing the color engraving.  Always tryin' to hold us back, those damn colorists!