A Black soldier’s heroism, overlooked in 1965, may finally be lauded in 2021
Capt. Paris Davis' teammates pushed several more times over the years for the medal, only to be met, they said, with silence and indifference.
By: New York Times |
February 16, 2021 11:01:04 am
A Black soldier’s heroism, overlooked in 1965, may finally be lauded in 2021Paris Davis with a portrait of himself in the military at his home in Alexandria, Va., Feb. 10, 2021. (Michael A. McCoy/The New York Times)
Capt. Paris Davis was in the thick of a predawn raid on an enemy camp in Vietnam when a grenade blasted out several of his teeth and, more troubling, tore off part of his trigger finger. Then enemy fire started pelting the Special Forces team he commanded. His most experienced sergeant was shot down. Then the demolitions specialist. Then the only medic.
It was June 18, 1965, and according to after-action reports, Davis, 26, was suddenly the last American standing with a ragtag company of 90 South Vietnamese volunteers, pinned down by hundreds of enemy troops.
A Black soldier’s heroism, overlooked in 1965, may finally be lauded in 2021 In an undated photo from Ron Reis, Capt. Paris David, center, gives a tour of his camp in South Vietnam to the commander of U.S. forces there, Gen. William Westmoreland, left. (Ron Deis via The New York Times)
https://indianexpress.com/article/world/a-black-soldiers-heroism-overlooked-in-1965-may-finally-be-lauded-in-2021-7190741/
