War Hero: Sergeant Sammy L. Davis

War Hero

Born and raised in Ohio in 1946, Sergeant Sammy L. Davis was one of the 240 who would be presented the Medal of Honor (out of the 2 million soldiers who served in Vietnam at the time). He was brought up in a military family, with family members having served in the Spanish-American War, World War II, and the Korean War, so it made sense when he decided to enlist into the US Army in 1965.

Upon his entry into the US Army and on his way to South Vietnam, he was trained as an artillery gunner and would soon be sent to the war zone in November of 1967. He was helicoptered into the combat-heavy area to set up a remote artillery base to provide support for his comrades. At around two in the morning, he woke up to the sound of mortar shells, this was unnerving considering his unit did not use mortars. The base was under a surprise attack from the North Vietnamese troops, that some called the Vietcong. There was a large river running between both forces, but 1,500 soldiers had quickly overrun their bas