After 60 years of waiting, Vietnam veteran gets a medal of Honor from President Biden

Retired black Army Col. Paris Davis was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Joe Biden on Friday for his heroic service during the Vietnam War. Davis was among the first black officers to lead Green Beret forces and was nominated for the Medal of Honor soon after he dragged fellow servicemen to safety while under fire from North Vietnamese forces near Saigon in June 1965, even after a grenade ripped through his teeth and his trigger finger.

However, the Army lost his paperwork in 1965, and a commander submitted paperwork four years later, only to have it go missing again. His comrades suspected racism was at work, prompting charges of racism.

Davis eventually was awarded a Silver Star Medal, the military’s third-highest combat medal, as an interim honor, but members of his team have argued that his skin color was a factor in the disappearance of his Medal of Honor recommendation. Davis retired in 1985 at the rank of colonel and now lives in Alexandria, Virginia, just outside Washington. Biden called him several weeks ago to deliver the news.

At the start of his remarks at the White House, Biden called awarding the nation’s highest military honor “the most consequential day since I’ve been president.” Davis sat to the president’s right, staring ahead as Biden detailed his heroism and his service in a military that had only recently desegregated.

Davis eventually spoke to reporters, reading from a piece of paper: “Thank you, President Biden. This medal reflects what teamwork, service, and dedication can achieve. God bless you, God bless all, God bless America.”

While Davis’s case met the standard for addressing an injustice that rises above partisanship, Army officials say there is no evidence of racism in his case. “We’re here to celebrate the fact that he got the award, long time coming,” said Maj. Gen. Patrick Roberson, deputy commanding general, U.S. Army Special Operations Command. “We, the Army, you know, we haven’t been able to see anything that would say, ‘Hey, this is racism.’ We can’t know that.”