WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Friday awarded the Medal of Honor to Retired Army Colonel Paris D. Davis for what the White House called «conspicuous bravery» during combat operations in the Vietnam War, a recognition that comes nearly 60 years after actions that earned him the nation’s highest military award for valor.
Davis, who was a captain at the time, «distinguished himself by acts of bravery and intrepidity beyond the call of duty» while commanding a special forces group during two-day combat with the enemy in June 1965, the agency said. White House in a description of Davis’s heroic actions.
Over the course of 20 hours, Davis «had saved every single one of his fellow Americans, every single one of them,» Biden said at the White House ceremony, attended by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and the Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough.
«Paris, you are everything this medal stands for,» Biden said. «You are everything our generation aspired to be. You are everything our nation is in its prime: brave and big-hearted, determined and devoted, selfless and steadfast, American.»
Biden described in detail how Davis went to great lengths to rescue his fellow Americans in Vietnam, which involved multiple failed attempts to reach them while under enemy fire and was wounded multiple times.
The two-day ordeal began in Bong Son, Vietnam, where Davis was commanding an «inexperienced South Vietnamese» force and learned that a «far superior North Vietnamese enemy force» was in the area. «Through surprise and leadership, he gained the tactical advantage, personally engaging and killing several enemy soldiers,» during which he was wounded and then engaged in hand-to-hand combat, the White House said in a statement.
During attacks and counter-attacks, Davis was hit by automatic weapons fire and had to fight an enemy soldier in «hand-to-hand combat», further injuring him.
Calling in air and artillery support and directing his men to reorganize in an abandoned enemy area, Davis realized two of his compatriots were «disabled and unable to move while pinned by enemy fire,» the White House said. .
“Captain Davis located their positions and moved to suppress the enemy weapons and personally rescue each to the safety of the friendly company position. While enacting the rescue of the first American, Captain Davis was shot in the leg,» the White House said. «In great pain, he went ahead and dragged him to the company perimeter. Captain Davis then again exposed himself to heavy enemy fire to rescue the second American, crawling 150 yards to complete the rescue while being hit by enemy grenade fragments.» .
After rescuing the second American, he directed the helicopter extraction of his wounded men, but refused medical evacuation for him. «Captain Davis continued to engage the enemy until all members of his company were extracted,» the White House said. «He remained on the battlefield to continue personal coordination of tactical air and artillery fire, ensuring the destruction of the enemy force.»
The recognition for Davis, 83, of Virginia, comes after his medal recommendation was lost, resubmitted and then lost again, until a volunteer group of supporters recreated and resubmitted the paperwork in 2016. While some of them believe racism was the reason for the delay, Davis doesn’t dwell on it, telling the Associated Press he doesn’t know why it has taken so long to recognize his heroism.
“Right now I am overwhelmed,” he said. “When you are fighting, you are not thinking about this moment. You’re just trying to get over that moment.»
At the ceremony, Biden highlighted Davis’ experience growing up in the 1950s during segregation.
“To many, he was less than an American, and in the eyes of the law, he was less than a person,” Biden said. «Signs in bars saying whites only, no seats on buses for African-Americans. Schools, streets, stores, divided by segregation. Paris endured all of this and still chose to join his college ROTC unit, offering to as a volunteer to serve a country that in many places still refuse to serve people who look like him.»
Davis wrote about his experiences in the war for a book on vietnam studiessaying that while rescuing the first American, he shot a sniper who was in a camouflaged manhole and then threw a grenade into the hole, killing two more enemies.
«I ran outside and got SSG Morgan to safety,» he wrote. «He was slightly wounded and I treated him for shock. The enemy again tried to overrun our position. I took a machine gun and started shooting.»
Davis said the second American, who he said was MSG Waugh, had been injured in the right foot.
«I tried to pick him up but couldn’t do it. I was lightly shot in the back of the leg as I was running for cover,» wrote Davis, who said he then ran off again and was later shot in the wrist. . «But I was able to pick up MSG Waugh and carried him firefighter style in a hail of automatic weapons fire to safety.»
Davis’ commanding officer recommended him for the highest military honor, but the paperwork disappeared, something Biden mentioned Friday. The president said the men who were with Davis during the combat operation in Vietnam immediately nominated him for the Medal of Honor, but «some of the documents were never processed, not just once, but twice.»
Davis was ultimately awarded a Silver Star Medal, the third-highest combat medal, as an interim honor, but members of Davis’s team have argued that the color of his skin was a factor in the demise of his recommendation from the Medal of Honor. Ron Deis, a junior team member at Bong Son, told the AP in an interview that he thought «someone lost the paperwork on purpose.»
In early 2021, Christopher Miller, then the acting defense secretary, ordered an expedited review of Davis’s case. He argued in an opinion column later that year that awarding Davis the Medal of Honor would address an injustice.
“Some issues in our nation outweigh partisanship,” Miller wrote. «The Davis case meets that standard.»
Army officials say there is no evidence of racism in the Davis case.
“We are here to celebrate the fact that he received the long overdue award,” Maj. Gen. Patrick Roberson, deputy commanding general of the US Army Special Operations Command, told the AP. the Army, you know, we haven’t been able to see anything that says, ‘Hey, this is racism.’”
“We can’t know that,” Roberson said.
The White House said the conduct of those who qualify for the Medal of Honor «must involve great personal bravery or self-sacrifice so conspicuous as to clearly distinguish the individual above his or her comrades and must have involved a risk to life.»
Davis’s daughter, Regan Davis Hopper, a mother of two teenage sons, told the AP that she only learned of her father’s heroism in 2019. But, like him, she said she tries not to dwell on her disappointment in how he was treated. handled the situation. .
“I try not to think about it. I try not to let that overwhelm me and make me lose the excitement and enthusiasm of the moment,» Hopper said. “I think that’s the most important thing, just to look forward and think about how exciting it is for America to meet my dad for the first time. I’m proud of him».
Since the medal’s inception in the 1860s, more than 3,400 have been awarded to soldiers, airmen, sailors, marines, and members of the Coast Guard. according to the army.