One of the first Black men ever to be a Green Beret will be awarded the Medal of Honor after the army fumbled his paperwork twice with attempts made by his comrades to remedy the situation, reported The New York Times.
Capt. Paris Davis disregarded his own well-being to save at least three fellow Americans while taking heavy fire from machine guns and mortars from the Viet Cong back in 1965. He had been ordered to abandon his men, but he kept to his soldier’s honor in combat for 19 hours, reported Military.com.
According to an Army report, Davis fended off Viet Cong troops, killing over a dozen with a pistol, machine gun, M16, grenade, and mortar. He told CBS News he was “stacking bodies the way you do canned goods.”
Davis, only 26 years old at the time, sustained at least eight wounds. His legs had been sprayed by bullets, and his finger had partially blown to pieces by a grenade, according to Military.com.
The now-retired Col. Davis received a call from President Joe Biden on Monday, alerting him that it was finally his time to receive the prestigious award.
According to a statement by his family: “As I anticipate receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor, 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 about those fateful 19 hours on June 18, 1965, and what our team did to make sure we left no man behind on that battlefield.”
Davis said the call from Biden “prompted a wave of memories of the men and women” he had served with, and the friends that had advocated for him to receive this award.
His supporters wondered why his paperwork for the Medal of Honor was lost and if racism shared a part in the process. After his first inquiry, Davis’ commander prodded on its whereabouts without receiving a clear answer, reported Military.com.
According to the Times, he resubmitted, and his paperwork was yet again lost. Davis did, however, receive the Silver Star and a Purple Heart for his heroics. He and his supporters began to think racism was at the heart of these mishaps.
In 1969, he was interviewed on the “Phil Donahue Show,” where he discussed the bravery of his fellow soldiers and the events that unfolded leading up to his heroics.
“You’re a Black man who was in a command position of an all-white outfit, and you risked your life and your career when you refused that order — that could have been the ball game, couldn’t it?” asked Donahue.
Davis responded, “It sure could have … in the dark, brown is just as Black or white as anyone else.”
Military.com discovered Davis had been approved by Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. From there, it went to the Secretary of Defense Llyod Austin and onto President Biden.
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