President Biden honors the forgotten African American hero (83) of the Vietnam War

“We celebrate a true hero for our nation,” Biden said, handing Davis the Medal of Honor. The president emphasized that the veteran grew up in racially segregated America and that he chose to serve a country that “many places refuse to serve people like him.”

The White House said that Davis was one of the first black officers in the US Special Forces, distinguished for his bravery and intrepidity on June 17-18, 1965 in Bong Son district, eastern Vietnam. And so Biden highlighted the exploits of Davis, emphasizing how he led an attack by a group of South Vietnamese fighters and how, despite his injury, he carried his wounded comrades on his back until they were safe. However, the US President regretted that his actions did not immediately result in the Medal of Honor, because the US military had twice incorrectly submitted the file in question.

With reference to the very long time lapse between feats of arms and his award, it is regularly suggested that Davis was a victim of racism. Davis himself said Thursday that he hasn’t thought about this consistently in the past 50 years and that the United States has been “very good” with him. After his military service in 1985, Davis became newspaper publisher in Virginia.