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Celebrating July 4th with a True American Hero - Sammy L Davis Sammy Lee Davis, Sergeant, U.S. Army – Earned Medal of Honor as a Private First Class
Sammy Davis took some ribbing in the Army because he shared a name with the famous entertainer. Long after his military days were over, he would gain additional acclaim among his old comrades, this time as the real “Forrest Gump”. Davis enlisted in the Army directly out of high school in 1965. Volunteering for the artillery because his father had been an artilleryman in World War II. He was assigned to the 4th Artillery , and shortly after completing training, asked to be sent to Vietnam. Early on November 18, 1967, his unit of eleven guns and forty-two men were helicoptered into an area west of Cai Lay to set up forward fire-support base for American infantrymen operating in the area, called Firebase Cudgil. At approximately two in the morning, Private First Class Davis’s Battery C came under heavy enemy mortar attack. Almost simultaneously, a reinforced battalion estimated at 1,500 Vietcong soldiers launched a fierce ground assault, failing to overrun the Americans because of a river separating the two forces. Davis’s squad was operating a 105mm Howitzer that fired 18,000 beehive darts in each shell. When he saw a nearby enemy position, Davis seized a machine gun and provided covering fire for his gun crew as they attempted to bring direct artillery fire on the enemy. Despite his efforts, an enemy recoilless rifle round scored a direct hit on the Howitzer, and the resulting blast knocked the crew from the gun, blowing Davis into a foxhole. He struggled to his feet and returned to the Howitzer, which was burning furiously. Convinced that the heavily outnumbered Americans couldn’t survive the attack and ignoring repeated warnings to seek cover, he decided to fire off at least one round from the burning Howitzer before being overrun. He rammed a shell into the gun despite an intense hail of enemy fire at his position, he aimed and fired point blank at the Vietcong, who were advancing five deep directly in front of the weapon. The Howitzer rolled backwards, knocking Davis violently to the ground, but beehive darts cut the enemy down. Undaunted Davis returned to the weapon to fire again when an enemy mortar round exploded within 20 meters of his position knocking Davis to the ground and injuring him painfully. Nevertheless he got up, loaded, aimed and fired the Howitzer, once more being knocked to the ground by the recoil. In complete disregard for his safety, Davis loaded and fired three more shells into the enemy, getting knocked to the ground with each blast. When there were just two rounds left, he fired a white phosphorus shell, and the last round he had was a propaganda shell filled with leaflets. At this point he heard yelling from the other side of the river and realized that GI’s had been cut off there. Ignoring his extensive injuries and the fact that he didn’t know how to swim, he grabbed an air mattress from their camp, jumped into the deep river and paddled across, and other soldiers followed. Scrambling up the bank, he found three wounded soldiers, one with a head wound that looked fatal. He stood upright and fired into the dense vegetation to prevent the Vietcong from advancing. He gave the 3 soldiers morphine and provided covering fire as another soldier helped the most gravely wounded soldier across the river, then pulled the other two through the water on the air mattress to the firebase. He eventually made his way to another American Howitzer crew and although suffering from painful wounds, he refused medical attention and resumed the fight joining another Howitzer crew which fired at the Vietcong forces until they broke contact and fled. Sometime before dawn he was wounded in the back and buttocks by friendly fire from the numerous beehive darts that passed through his body. While he was in the hospital, Davis heard that he was to be sent home. He petitioned General William Westmoreland to be allowed to stay with his unit. Permission was granted, although he was so hobbled by his injuries that he was taken off the line and was made a cook. On November 19, 1968, exactly one year and one day after the nightlong firefight at Cai Lay, Davis received his Congressional Medal of Honor from President Lyndon B. Johnson in a ceremony at the White House. Many years later the footage of LBJ putting the medal around Davis’s neck appeared in the movie Forrest Gump, with Tom Hanks head substituted for Davis. Gump’s fictional Medal of Honor citation was loosely based on Davis’s actual citation.
Sammy L. Davis’s citation states: “For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action and beyond the call of duty. His extraordinary heroism, at the risk of his life, are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the U.S. Army.” * * * I had the opportunity to meet Sammy Lee Davis in person at a program at Heritage Hill in Green Bay WI on May 6, 2010, where he recounted the events of his story that night over 40 years ago. He also retold his homecoming, which was tragically marred by anti-war protestors, and how the returning soldiers were treated.
Sammy Davis, my son Drake and I before the presentation. Sammy Davis, a humble man, who still feels like he didn’t really do anything all that remarkable during that firefight many years ago as a young man. Sammy is still proud to wear his uniform and thank those past and present soldiers for their service and dedication in honoring our nation, our freedoms and our opportunities. I think about his presentation, hearing how he risked his life to save his fellow soldiers and not only asked nothing in return, he is so remarkably humble to this day. I compare his poise with some of the overpaid professional athletes who strut around to call attention to themselves for merely catching a ball. The comparison shows that professional sports are just a game. Unfortunately for our soldiers, this is no game and there certainly is no instant replay or penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct. Sammy, I, along with a grateful nation, would again like to take this opportunity to say Thank You. The information here is a combination of the Sammy Lee Davis’s chapter in the book, “Medal of Honor – Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty” text by Peter Collier, with photos by Nick Del Calzo; and from the May 6, 2010 program, and my notes taken during his presentation at Heritage Hill, in Green Bay WI. Rich Fercy |
