Vietnam veteran receives Medal of Honor after 58-year wait

Retired U.S. Army Col. Paris D. Davis (CGSC Class of 1971) finally received the Medal of Honor for his bravery during the Vietnam War in a ceremony at the White House on March 3, 2023.

Retired Col. Paris D. Davis, left, stands at attention alongside President Biden, as the citation for his Medal of Honor is read during the ceremony at the White House March 3, 2023. (photos by Geoff Babb unless otherwise noted)

Davis, now 83, was an Army Special Forces captain commanding Alpha Detachment, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces, and approximately 80 South Vietnamese soldiers when he and his troops were attacked on June 18, 1965 in near Bong Son, South Vietnam. At day’s end Davis was credited with saving four of his fellow American Soldiers despite his own wounds and being ordered to leave the battlefield. Read the full citation

Davis’ commanding officer submitted a Medal of Honor nomination for Davis shortly after the battle and Davis was awarded the Silver Star as an “interim” award. By 1969 the award nomination still had not been processed and an official inquiry that year determined that it had been lost or destroyed and a new nomination needed to be submitted. Many suspect the lack of action and the “lost” nomination was a result of racism given Davis was one of the first black Special Forces officers in U.S. history.

Members of Davis’ team have pushed for several years to get his nomination package approved. One of the men who served with him on that day, Ron Deis of Alaska, was a critical part of documenting key details. Deis was part of a group of volunteers who re-created Davis’ nomination packet and filed it again in 2016. Deis was present at the recent ceremony and the president mentioned him by name at the beginning of his remarks.

CGSC professor of history Dr. Joseph G.D. (Geoff) Babb poses for a photo in the East Room of the White House after the Medal of Honor ceremony concludes for his former battalion commander Col. (Ret.) Paris D. Davis on March 3, 2023.

Also present at the ceremony was CGSC professor of history Dr. Joseph G.D. (Geoff) Babb who served as Davis’ intelligence officer in the 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group at Fort Devens, Massachusetts in 1978. Babb and others who had served with Davis were invited to attend the ceremony. Babb said he had the chance to speak briefly with Col. Davis the morning of the ceremony and spoke about an exercise they had participated in at Fort Drum in 1978 in extreme blizzard conditions.

“Davis was legendary in the battalion, and later when he commanded the 10th Special Forces Group, for taking care of Soldiers,” Babb said. “I was put on the invitee list by one of my old friends who also served in the battalion at the time who was part of the small cadre of people who have been pushing his Medal of Honor packet forward for probably a decade.”

Babb also said he was struck by the idea that as large as the Army is, it can sometimes seem small. – The U.S. Army Chief of Chaplains, Maj. Gen. Thomas L. Solhjem, who conducted the invocation and benediction during Davis’ Medal of Honor ceremony was a student of his in the CGSC Class of 2001. Similarly, during the reception he met up with the U.S. Army Deputy Chief of Engineers Maj. Gen. Richard Heitkamp who was also one of his students.

Read the Medal of Honor Citation

Watch the full ceremony

Watch the ceremony and interview with Col. Davis

Army Medal of Honor feature website (includes full history and narrative of the battle)

Retired Col. Paris D. Davis, left, bows his head alongside President Biden, as U.S. Army Chief of Chaplains, Maj. Gen. Thomas L. Solhjem conducts the invocation for Davis’ Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House March 3, 2023.

President Joe Biden shakes the hand of retired U.S. Army Col. Paris D. Davis, after presenting him with the Medal of Honor on March 3, 2023, in the East Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)