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Congressional Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor recipient Army Artilleryman SFC Sammy L. Davis
Sammy L. Davis, private first class, U.S. Army Battery C, 2nd Battalion, 4th Artillery, 9th Infantry Division (Courtesy photo)
Episode 2831 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature Army Artilleryman SFC Sammy L. Davis and his Congressional Medal of Honor award. Information featured in this episode comes from an essay titled: The ‘Real’ Forrest Gump: Medal of Honor Recipient Sammy L. Davis that appeared on the Military.com website. It was submitted by Peter Collier.
Sammy Lee Davis (born November 1, 1946) is an American soldier who served in the United States Army during the Vietnam War and was awarded the nation’s highest military medal for valor, the Medal of Honor.
He was born in Dayton, Ohio, on November 1, 1946. Davis was raised in French Camp, California. His family had a long tradition of military service; his grandfather served in the Spanish–American War, his father Robert Davis was in World War II, and his brothers Hubert and Darrell Davis served in Korea and Vietnam, respectively. Davis attended Manteca High School in Manteca, California, where he was a member of the football and diving teams. He also participated in Sea Scouting in Stockton. After his junior year of high school, Davis’ family moved to Indiana. He graduated from Mooresville High School in 1966.
In March 1967, Davis was sent to South Vietnam as a private first class, and was assigned to Battery C, 2nd Battalion, 4th Artillery Regiment, 9th Infantry Division. On November 18, 1967, his unit at Firebase Cudgel west of Cai Lay, fell under machine gun fire and heavy mortar attack by an estimated three companies of Viet Cong from the 261st Viet Cong Main Force Battalion, which swarmed the area from the south and then west. Upon detecting an enemy position, Davis manned a machine gun to give his comrades covering fire so they could fire artillery in response. Davis was wounded, but ignored warnings to take cover, taking over the unit’s burning howitzer and firing several shells himself. He also disregarded his inability to swim due to a broken back, and crossed a river there on an air mattress to help rescue three wounded American soldiers. He ultimately found his way to another howitzer site to continue fighting the NVA attack until they fled. The battle lasted two hours.
Listen to episode 2831 and discover more about Army Artilleryman SFC Sammy L. Davis and his Congressional Medal of Honor award.
