Vietnamese army officer to receive Medal of Honor after nearly 60 years of waiting

WASHINGTON. One of the first black officers to lead a special forces team in combat will receive the nation’s highest award for gallantry in combat, nearly 60 years after his commander first recommended him for the prestigious Medal of Honor.

President Joe Biden called retired US Army Colonel Paris Davis on Monday “to inform him that he will receive the Medal of Honor for outstanding heroism during the Vietnam War.”

In a statement released afterwards, the 83-year-old Davis said the phone call “brought back a wave of memories of the men and women I served with in Vietnam.” He thanked his family, friends in the military, and volunteers for keeping history alive, as well as Biden and military leaders.

“I often think about those fateful 19 hours on June 18, 1965, and what our team did to leave no one behind on the battlefield,” said Davis, who is originally from Cleveland and currently lives in Alexandria, Virginia. .

Davis, then a captain, was recommended by his commanding officer for the Medal of Honor for having distinguished himself that June morning during a pre-dawn raid on the North Vietnamese army camp at Bong Son. Every American was wounded during a major enemy counterattack.

According to ArmyTimes, Davis repeatedly rushed into an open rice field to save every member of his team, using his little finger to fire his rifle after his hand was shattered by an enemy grenade. His entire team survived.

Documents recommending Davis for the Medal of Honor have disappeared at least twice. He was eventually awarded the Silver Star medal, the third highest combat medal, but members of Davis’ team have long argued that race was a factor in his conversion.

Davis retired in 1985, rising to the rank of colonel.

In early 2021, Christopher Miller, then Acting Secretary of Defense, ordered an expedited review of the case. In an opinion column in June 2021, he argued that awarding Davis the Medal of Honor would remove the injustice.

“Some of the problems in our country go beyond partisanship,” Miller wrote. “The Davis case lives up to that standard.”

The White House did not immediately announce the date for Davis’ award ceremony.