Sammy L. Davis, Medal of Honor

Sammy L. Davis saved many lives on November 18, 1967 on his artillery fire base in Vietnam. When his position came under mortar attack by a large attacking Viet Cong force and his howitzer was hit, he got back up off the ground and fired the burning artillery piece into the attacking force. Loading the cannon with shotgun type ammo, he point blank fired into the attacking enemy, shredding them by the dozens.

The artillery piece knocked him to the ground each time and he had to manually turn the gun towards the enemy to fire again. Noticing that some of his companions were trapped on the other side of a river near the base, he swam over to them on an air mattress ignoring his broken back and various wounds to help them get medical help. He covered the wounded men with a machine gun by firing into the jungle to suppress the enemy.

Upon returning to base, he found another howitzer, and started firing at the attacking enemy once more, refusing medical aid despite multiple injuries. He continued fighting with the cannon firing point blank at ground level until the Viet Cong broke contact.

For his efforts, he was awarded the Medal Of Honor by President Lyndon Johnson. His medal ceremony was dubbed over in the movie Forest Gump, by Tom Hanks receiving the medal, but originally it was Sammy.

It takes Valor to fight when the enemy is within sight, your equipment is destroyed and you are wounded. Thank you Sammy L. Davis for showing us the way.