{"id":22573,"date":"2023-08-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-09T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=22573"},"modified":"2023-08-11T06:42:19","modified_gmt":"2023-08-11T06:42:19","slug":"vietnam-veteran-takes-his-place-among-fellow-medal-of-honor-recipients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=22573","title":{"rendered":"Vietnam veteran takes his place among fellow Medal of Honor recipients"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Director of the Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt presents a photo book to Medal of Honor recipient, retired Col. Paris Davis, at the National Museum of the U.S. Army, Fort Belvoir, Va., on Aug. 9, 2023. The photo book is personalized by the Secretary of the Army Christine E. Wormuth. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. XaViera Masline)
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WASHINGTON \u2014 The Army unveiled an engraving that honored the efforts of a Vietnam War veteran who led an inexperienced, outnumbered South Vietnamese company to victory nearly 60 years ago.<\/p>\n

The service added Col. Paris Davis to the granite wall bearing the names of fellow Medal of Honor recipients at the National Museum of the U.S Army Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am overwhelmed by what has happened today,\u201d Davis said after the ceremony.<\/p>\n

Davis\u2019 actions in June 1965 not only assured U.S. forces a pivotal victory but prevented three American Soldiers from being captured.<\/p>\n

President Joe Biden awarded Davis the Medal of Honor in a White House ceremony on March 3 and the Defense Department later inducted Davis into its Hall of Heroes March 6.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s from your life \u2026 that this nation remembers you, honors you and owes you,\u201d said Army Director of Staff, Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt, who hosted the ceremony. \u201cBy making history, you have given peace to a nation that did not appreciate you nor appreciate the Vietnam War and from an Army that often did not see you as equal. And inside you weren\u2019t equal; you were better.\u201d<\/p>\n

June 18, 1965, Davis, three Special Forces troops and a South Vietnamese company faced a large North Vietnamese force near Bong Son, Binh Dinh Province. Despite suffering several injuries, the 5th Special Forces Group armor officer continued to fire upon the enemy and engage in hand-to-hand combat.<\/p>\n

Amid enemy rounds, then-Captain Davis rescued three injured U.S. Soldiers from enemy fire. Davis then refused medical evacuation and instead oversaw the transportation of the wounded troops.<\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout the day Paris Davis distinguished himself with bravery above and beyond what is humanly possible,\u201d Piatt said. \u201cParis simply would not allow the enemy to win. He refused to fall and refused to let his team fall.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davis, one of the first Black Special Forces officers in the Army, continued to direct air and artillery fire upon the enemy. Davis\u2019 efforts helped stop the South Vietnamese force from being overrun.<\/p>\n

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\n Medal of Honor recipient, retired Col. Paris Davis is joined by his family and Director of the Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Walter E. Piatt, during an engraving unveiling ceremony in his honor at the National Museum of the U.S. Army, Fort Belvoir, Va., Aug. 9, 2023. His name was permanently engraved in granite along the south wall of the Medal of Honor Garden to identify and honor him as one of the recipients of the nation\u2019s highest award for valor. (U.S. Army photo by Bernardo Fuller)
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Davis thanked his friends, fellow veterans and family who stood by him until he received the nation\u2019s highest military honor. The Army previously awarded him a Silver Star and Purple Heart.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe power to do what you did is hard for even other Soldiers to understand,\u201d Piatt said. \u201cWe admire your actions. The world has benefited from your deeds.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his remarks, Davis emphasized the importance of showing kindness and empathy to those who cannot help themselves or may be physically limited such as the disabled.<\/p>\n

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Davis attended Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He commissioned into the Army in 1959 and graduated from the service\u2019s ranger and airborne schools in 1960.<\/p>\n

Davis deployed first to Korea and then Vietnam in 1962 before being selected for Vietnam again in 1965. Davis went on to serve 26 years before retiring from the Army in 1985.<\/p>\n

After the ceremony, Davis, his daughter, Regan Davis-Hopper, and his friends and family walked the garden grounds and looked upon his name and other recipients on the plaque.<\/p>\n

RELATED LINKS:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Medal of Honor: Col. Paris D. Davis<\/a><\/p>\n

No man left behind<\/a><\/p>\n

Army News Service<\/a><\/p>\n

ARNEWS archives<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Director of the Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt presents a photo book to Medal of Honor recipient, retired Col. Paris Davis, at the National Museum of the U.S. Army, Fort Belvoir, Va., on Aug. 9, 2023. The photo book is personalized by the Secretary of the Army Christine E. Wormuth. (U.S. Army photo by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22575,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22573"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22578,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22573\/revisions\/22578"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}