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Not long after I entered the Army, I had just completed IOBLC, the Infantry Officers Basic Leadership Course, when a sergeant major who is white come… - Paris Davis
" "Not long after I entered the Army, I had just completed IOBLC, the Infantry Officers Basic Leadership Course, when a sergeant major who is white comes up to me. "What are you doing here?" he asks.
It's been fourteen years since President Truman desegregated our military, but Black people are still looked upon as less than people- less than Americans. Sitting at a lunch counter, getting a book from the library, walking a picket line to support the right to vote and integrate schools and public transportation- these actions can get Black people arrested, beaten, or killed.
I straighten a bit. "I'm waiting to be assigned, sir." He looks at me, thinking. "I have an Airborne slot," he says. "You want it?" "Yes, sir." "Do you know what 'Airborne' means?" "No, sir." "Good. You'll find out once you get there."
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About Paris Davis
Colonel Paris D. Davis (born 13 May 1939) is a retired United States Army officer who received the Medal of Honor on 3 March 2023 for his actions on 18 June 1965 during the Vietnam War, while he was a captain with the 5th Special Forces Group. Originally awarded the Silver Star, Davis was twice previously nominated for the Medal of Honor, but both times the paperwork relating to his nomination disappeared; the time from the first nomination to the completion of a successful third nomination spanned 58 years. Following his Medal of Honor action, Davis subsequently commanded the 10th Special Forces Group. He retired in 1985 as a full colonel after 26 years on active duty, and published the Metro Herald for another 30 years before fully retiring. He lives in Arlington County, Virginia.
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Additional quotes by Paris Davis
I address my men. "If you call me anything besides 'sir,' I'm not going to waste time reporting you. I'll just knock you to the ground."
We get along splendidly. I think one of the good things about a war or any other type of crisis like Vietnam is the fact that people are committed to it like gel. There's no race here. In the dark, brown is just as black or white as anybody else.
Back home, the United States is engaged in another kind of war. It's a battle over segregation. In 1964, President Kennedy's successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, signed into law the Civil Rights Act, which ended segregation in public places and prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Not everyone is happy about it. Some white people cross to the other side of the street when they see me. Some white soldiers I know, too.
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The Vietcong tries to overrun us. I see five coming over the trench line. I kill all five when I hear firing from the left flank. I run down there and see about six Vietcong moving toward our position. I throw a grenade and kill all four of them. My M16 jams, so I shoot one with my pistol and hit the other with the butt of my M16 again and again until he's dead. That's when it hits me. I'm the last American standing.
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