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President Biden will award the Medial of Honor to retired black Army Col. Paris Davis for his heroic service during the Vietnam War – after paperwork recommending him for the honor mysteriously ‘vanished’ in 1965 – and then again four years later.
Biden phoned Davis, who was among the first black officers to lead Green Beret forces, on Monday to tell him of the honor and thank him for his ‘remarkable heroism,’ according to the White House.
At a future White House ceremony, he will recognize Davis for his conduct when he was a 26-year-old captain. While under fire from North Vietnamese forces near Saigon, he dragged fellow fellow serviceman to safety, even after a grenade ripped through his teeth and even ripped through his trigger finger.
He was soon nominated for the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military honor. But the Army lost his paperwork. A commander submitted paperwork four years later, only to have it go missing again – prompting charges of racism. A 1969 military review didn’t reveal any Medal of Honor file on Davis.
Army Col. Paris Davis (ret.) is being awarded the Medal of Honor more than 60 years after he was first nominated for displaying heroism under fire
‘The call today from President Biden prompted a wave of memories of the men and women I served with in Vietnam – from the members of 5th Special Forces Group and other U.S. military units to the doctors and nurses who cared for our wounded,’ Davis said in a statement, CBS News reported.
‘I am so very grateful for my family and friends within the military and elsewhere who kept alive the story of A-team, A-321 at Camp Bong Son. I think often of those fateful 19 hours on June 18, 1965 and what our team did to make sure we left no man behind on that battlefield.’
He refused to leave behind two of his comrades. One of them, Billy Waugh, spoke decades later of how Davis ‘grabbed me, and he (dragged) me, after he himself was shot several times and couldn’t walk.
‘I only have to close my eyes to vividly recall the gallantry of this individual,’ he wrote years later, in 1981.
His comrades suspected racism was at work.
‘What other assumption can you make?’ team member Ron Deis, then-77, told the New York Times in 2021.
‘We all knew he deserved it then,’ he said. ‘He sure as hell deserves it now.’
A comrade and a commanding officer nominated him for the award, the nation’s highest, but the Army lost his file
David and comrades blamed racism for whatever happened to his file
President Biden called Davis to tell him of the honor and thank him for his ‘remarkable heroism,’ according to the White House
‘The call today from President Biden prompted a wave of memories of the men and women I served with in Vietnam – from the members of 5th Special Forces Group and other U.S. military units to the doctors and nurses who cared for our wounded,’ Davis said in a statement
Waugh and his former commander, Billy Cole, each recommended him for the commendation.
Pressing on, his advocates contacted former Defense Secretary Christopher Miller, who ordered an expedited review of the matter.
Davis was asked by CBS last year whether he thought race was a factor. ‘I don’t think – I know race was a factor,’ he said.
According to the White House, the medal ‘will be awarded following recommendations by the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of Defense. The President told Colonel Davis that he looks forward to hosting him at the White House soon for a medal presentation.’
According to the Times account based on after-action reports, Davis had teeth and his trigger finger blown off by the grenade in June, 1965 after his team came under fire. They and about 90 South Vietnamese forces continued to face fire.
He fired with his pinkie and ran into open areas to help his comrades.
In 2021, Biden awarded the Medal of Honor posthumosly to Army Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe, the first African American to receive the honor since the end of the Vietnam era, for his conduct in Iraq. He carried troops to safety despite suffering burns over 72 per cent of his body. He ultimately died of his injuries.
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