A Vietnam veteran whose nominations for the Medal of Honor twice disappeared during the civil rights movement may receive his medal nearly 60 years later. Retired Col. Paris Davis sat down with CBS News last year to tell his story.
Davis was one of the first Black officers in the Army and was an Army captain in June of 1965 when he led a raid northeast of Saigon. He described the event that led to his nomination for the medal.
During the nearly 19-hour-long raid, soldiers Robert Brown and Billy Waugh were gravely injured when they were hit with bullets and grenades. Brown had been shot in the head, and Davis would not leave his men.
“We were stacking bodies the way you do canned goods in a grocery store,” said Davis. “I could actually see his brain pulsating. It was that big. He said, ‘Am I gonna die?’ And I said, ‘Not before me.'”
Davis was ordered to leave twice by his commanding officer but refused. Waugh, now 91, confirmed the story last April to CBS News and said he was unable to walk because he’d been shot multiple times in the legs.
“We ended up in an open area together. He grabbed me, and he drug me,” said Waugh.
Waugh also said that he personally submitted Davis for the Medal of Honor while recovering at the 5th Special Forces Headquarters in Nha Trang Vietnam. Davis’ commanding officer, Billy Cole, also recommended him for the Medal of Honor.
“I just
described the action and tried to describe it best I could,” said Waugh. “And I wrote what I had seen and what I participated in and made him look good, as he had done. I can’t describe where he was part of the time, because I was not with him. We were split (by gunfire), then we came back together.”However, Davis never received the medal and his file disappeared in 1965. A military review in 1969 revealed that the Defense Department had no Medal of Honor file on Davis. Another file was ordered for submission ASAP, but no file was found. Waugh wrote a personal statement in 1981 to find out why Davis never received the award. “I only have to close my eyes to vividly recall the gallantry of this individual,” he wrote.
Neil Thorne volunteers to help overlooked veterans receive their medals and said every soldier who served under Davis admired him.
“Everybody I’ve talked to that served under him says that he’s the best officer they’ve ever served under,” he said.
“I know race was a factor,” Davis said, noting that he was called the n-word during his 23-year career in the Army. Davis was one of the Green Berets’ first Black officers and remembered telling his troops, “You can call me Capt. Davis, but you can’t call me a n— . But, it did happen,” Davis said.
Davis was asked what receiving the Medal of Honor would mean to him.
“It would mean all the things that I haven’t been able to dream about.”
While the Office of the Secretary of Defense does not comment on the progress of award nominations, there was an expedited review of Col. Davis’ nomination last year. The file was signed by the former Secretary of the Army, Mark Esper and Christine Wormuth, the current Secretary of the Army.