It’s Black History Month and we’re celebrating a Black veteran receiving an honor he was nominated for so long ago that technically, the nomination itself is Black history in and of itself.
According to the Washington Post, President Joe Biden will award the Medal of Honor to Black Vietnam War veteran Col. Paris Davis of the U.S. Army.
Davis was reportedly first nominated for the honor in 1965, but, somehow, the Army reportedly lost the paperwork confirming his nomination—TWICE. (Bruh…what?)
The White House reported that on Monday, Biden personally called Davis, one of the first Black officers to join the Army’s Special Forces, according to the Post, to inform him that his “remarkable heroism during the Vietnam War” has finally earned him the honor he was nominated for when Jim Crow was still alive and well in American law books.
“The president told Col. Davis that he looks forward to hosting him at the White House soon for a medal presentation,” the White House press office said.
Biden didn’t specify when the ceremony will take place, but he did say that Army Secretary Christine Wormuth and Defense Secretary Lloyd T. Austin III both recommended him to receive the medal.
So, if you’re wondering what acts of heroism Davis performed to earn the Medal of Honor, The New York Times reports that on June 18, 1965, he was the last American standing after enemy forces attacked the Special Forces team he commanded. Injured and with part of his trigger finger shot off, Captain Davis was left with only a “ragtag company” of 90 South Vietnamese volunteers. Despite being pinned down by hundreds of enemy troops and being injured, he bravely took action and saved several of his men.
Certain that he was as good as dead, he began fighting without fear of consequence, pulling his M-16 trigger with his pinkie, sprinting repeatedly into open ground to rescue teammates, and refusing to leave the fight, even after being shot several times.
He made it out alive, and was immediately nominated for the military’s highest award, the Medal of Honor.
So, Davis did all that and then the Army lost that man’s paperwork, huh?
Still, Davis appears to be excited and grateful about finally receiving his due. In a statement, he confirmed that Biden called him and he said the unexpected call “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.”
“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,” Davis continued, the Post reported. “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.”
Congratulations to Col. Paris Davis for the well-deserved and long overdue honor. Thank you for your service.
