Barrier-Breaking Black Army Officer Finally Awarded Medal Of Honor

ARLINGTON, VA — Retired U.S. Army Col. Paris Davis of Arlington received the highest award for bravery in the U.S. military for his actions as one of the nation's first Black officers to lead a Special Forces team in combat, almost 60 years after he was first recommended for the award

President Joe Biden awarded Davis with the Medal of Honor on Friday in a ceremony at the White House. Davis, a Vietnam veteran, was first nominated to receive the medal in 1965.

"Paris, you are everything this medal means," Biden said in the medal presentation. "You’re everything our generation aspired to be. And you are everything our nation is at our best: brave and big hearted, determined and devoted, selfless and steadfast. American."

In 1965, during a battle in Vietnam, a wounded Davis led his patrol through two days of fighting. Davis helped to save two wounded troops and extract all members of his company.

Davis was previously awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart. After retiring from service in 1985 with the rank of colonel, he went on to publish the Metro Herald newspaper in Northern Virginia.

Davis, 83, was a barrier-breaking Black officer in the Army, who was previously nominated for the Medal of Honor twice — in 1965 and again in 1969 — but the application went missing both times.

President Biden noted that Davis joined the Green Berets, becoming one of the nation’s first Black Special Forces officers, only 14 years after President Harry Truman desegregated the military.

"You know what Captain [Colonel] Davis said after learning he would finally receive the Medal of Honor?" Biden asked the audience. "'America was behind me. America was behind me.' He never lost faith, which I find astounding. He never stopped believing in the founding vision of our nation — the vision that Lincoln kept alive 158 years ago and a vision Paris fought to defend 58 years ago. This vision for a more perfect Union, one where all women and men are created equal."

In 2016, Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) wrote the Secretary of the U.S. Army, urging him to review the Medal of Honor nomination package for Davis. The Secretary of Defense wrote to the senators in December, notifying them that Davis’s actions merited the Medal of Honor.

“Nearly six decades later, this long-overdue recognition serves as a reminder of the lives saved and families made whole thanks to Colonel Davis’ bravery,” Warner and Kaine said in a joint statement. “Davis’ leadership and his willingness to place himself in harm’s way to save others represent the highest values espoused by our military and serve as a model for our servicemembers.”

The text of Davis’s official Medal of Honor citation reads: "Captain Paris D. Davis, commander, Detachment A-321, Fifth Special Forces Group Airborne, First Special Forces, distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as an advisor to the 883rd Regional Force Company, Army of the Republic of Vietnam, during combat operations against an armed enemy in the vicinity of Bồng Sơn, Republic of Vietnam, on June 17-18, 1965."

Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) also long supported Davis as deserving of the honor and attended Friday's ceremony at the White House.

“Today Colonel Paris Davis finally received the Medal of Honor, our nation’s highest military award for valor, for courageous actions above and beyond the call of duty which saved the lives of his men nearly six decades ago,” Beyer said in a statement. "Colonel Paris Davis is a hero, a fixture in our community, and a great man who I am proud to know and call a friend."

Read Biden's full remarks and the Army's full account of Davis' harrowing experience on the White House website.