In a White House ceremony Friday, U.S. President Joe Biden presented the Medal of Honor — the U.S. military's highest decoration — to retired Army Colonel Paris Davis for his bravery during the Vietnam War, 58 years after he was recommended for the honor.
Speaking before a capacity White House East Room audience that included Davis, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and previous Medal of Honor winners, Biden called Davis “an incredible man,” “a true hero of our nation” and referred to the event as perhaps the “most consequential” of his presidency.
Davis was honored for his actions in Vietnam during a battle that took place over 20 hours in July 1965 near Bong Son. Then an army captain and commander of a special forces airborne group, he led an inexperienced South Vietnamese force along with other U.S. soldiers on a nighttime raid against a vastly superior North Vietnamese fighting force.
Retired Army Col. Paris Davis, one of the first Black officers to lead a Special Forces team in combat, speaks during an interview with the Associated Press at a hotel in Arlington, Virginia, March 2, 2023.
Davis led an assault that included him personally engaging in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy, successfully destroying enemy gun placements and capturing enemy soldiers.
Wounded at least twice in the action, Davis helped regroup his men, called in artillery and air support, and rescued two U.S. soldiers incapacitated and trapped by enemy gunfire. He also helped evacuate the wounded and refused medical attention for himself until all members of his company were extracted.
Davis, now 83, had previously received the Silver Star, Bronze Star, the Purple Heart and other recognitions for his actions. But though his commanding officer immediately recommended him for the medal, Biden told the audience, the paperwork for the medal was inexplicably lost — “not just once, but twice,” the president said.
Biden said Davis, who is Black, returned from Vietnam to a nation at the height of the U.S. civil rights movement and a time of heightened racial tensions, as Blacks across the U.S. were protesting segregation and demanding equal rights.
Friends and family of Davis have long said his race contributed to the disappearance of the medal recommendation papers. But the president said when Davis received word that he was finally receiving the medal, his response was, “America was behind me.”
Biden said this showed Davis never lost faith, which the president called “astounding.” He said Davis never stopped believing the founding vision of America, that all men and women are created equal, “a vision Paris fought to defend 58 years ago.”
“We’ve never fully lived up to it,” the president said of that vision, “but we’ve never walked away from it. This is evidence we’re still not going to walk away from it,” said Biden, referring to Davis’ long-delayed recognition
Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press.