Medal of Honor Recipient Shares His Story

At some point during his mobilization in the damp, bug-infested jungles of Southeast Vietnam, Pfc. Sammy L. Davis learned how to play the harmonica and mastered the mournful tune of “Shenandoah” for the captain of his platoon.

“One day, my captain came looking for me and said, ‘Private, you haven’t written to your mother,’ ” said Davis, whose mom had reported him missing to the Red Cross, after not hearing from Davis for more than 60 days.

“I was seeing my comrades getting killed around me every day. I couldn’t write home,” said Davis. “And so, my captain was looking out for me.”

The next day, Capt. Dunlop brought Davis a harmonica. “Learn how to play Shenandoah, private, it makes me feel peace.”

On June 6, Davis, one of only 84 living Congressional Medal of Honor recipients, shared his stories of bravery and heroism, while deployed in the Vietnam War, as he talked to nearly 50 juniors and seniors at His visit was sponsored by the investment firm Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, a supporter of the Medal of Honor Foundation.

Davis was commended for the military’s highest honor for his feats on Nov. 18, 1967, on a river west of Cai Lay in Vietnam. He was with an artillery regiment, along with 42 men, when mortar attacks from 1,500 enemy soldiers from the North Vietnam army bombarded their units.

During the fire exchange, Davis was wounded.

“The force of the shot threw me into my foxhole,” recapped the 64-year-old retired sergeant 1st class. “For several seconds, I lost my hearing, and when I looked up into the night sky, it looked like fireworks on the Fourth of July.”

Despite having a broken back and shrapnel wounds, Davis stood up and fired 1,000 rounds at the enemy. After hearing the screams of three wounded American soldiers and, in the face of more attacks, Davis pulled his comrades to the river’s bank using an air mattress.

“When it was all over, there were only 12 of us left standing,” said Davis.

The surviving 11 soldiers recommended Davis for the  Medal of Honor.

President Lyndon B. Johnson presented Davis the award in November 1968. In the well-known movie, Forrest Gump, Davis is the soldier receiving the honor, when an image of Tom Hanks is seen.

Davis said one of the greatest moments was holding the grandchild last year of one of the soldiers he had rescued.

“If I hadn’t been able to pull him to safety,” Davis said, as he held back tears, “that little baby wouldn’t be here. It was an emotional moment for me.”

When asked by one of the students about his return to the States after his deployment, Davis recounted landing in San Francisco and being warned about the extreme anti-war movement.

“My fellow soldiers and I knew that we possibly might be harassed, and we were told by officials to maintain decorum and dignity. You never knew where a news camera was going to show up,” Davis said.

But, on the way to board another plane, Davis and three other American soldiers were accosted by aggressive demonstrators and beat with clubs. The airline’s crew seated the men in first class and washed their clothes onboard before they arrived home.

“There are people who hated us because we were in that war. But, I didn’t go to Vietnam because I hate people. I believed I was helping people,” said Davis, who enlisted in the military right after his graduation from high school, following in the footsteps of his father, who served in World War II.

The Medal of Honor, he said, is for all of us,  as he passed it among the students.

“This medal is about love,” Davis said. “I went to war because I love my country, and I discovered when I got over there, I loved my soldiers because they were my brothers.”

Davis ended his inspiring talk by playing “Shenandoah” on the harmonica.

Capt. Dunlop, who made him learn the tune, was killed  in Vietnam.

“In 1982, I was a speaker at the  Vietnam Memorial. I found his name along the wall,” said Davis, “and played the song he said gave him peace.”