PARIS DAVIS

This pioneering member of the United States Army Special Forces received long-overdue recognition for his heroism rescuing comrades during the Vietnam War

- WORDS CLIVE WEBB

On the morning of Friday 3 March 2023, retired US Army Colonel Paris Davis stood tall in full dress uniform before an audience gathered in the East Room of the White House. The 83-year-old veteran was there to receive the Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration awarded by his country, for acts of extraordinary heroism during the Vietnam War.

President Joe Biden, addressing the room, called the ceremony "what may be the most consequential day since I've been president". He described Davis as "courage in the flesh", a soldier whose heroism embodied the highest ideals of military service.

As Biden observed, the ceremony marked a moment of historical reckoning. Davis is one of the relatively few African-American soldiers to receive the Medal of Honor for service in Vietnam, and his recognition was long overdue.

Twice recommended for the medal, Davis' paperwork was either lost or deliberately suppressed. He waited nearly six decades before his award was finally conferred, following a sustained public campaign. Many commentators, and Davis himself, believe the delay stemmed from institutional racism within the US Army. The ceremony was therefore both a tribute to individual heroism and a means to redress a wider historical injustice. For Davis, it was a moment of deep personal meaning. As he said in an interview ahead of the ceremony, the award represented "all the things that I haven't been able to dream about".