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Guardsmen Meet Medal of Honor Recipient
(February 27, 2010) |
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| BEDFORD, Ind., Feb. 24, 2010 – More than 100 soldiers
preparing for deployment to Iraq got a special treat Feb. 13
when Medal of Honor recipient Sammy L. Davis visited the
Indiana National Guard's 2219th Brigade Support Company at
the Bedford National Guard Armory here.
"There's nothing any better to boost morale than having a
legend like him come to our little unit just to mingle with
the troops," said Army Sgt. Ricky Stork, a fuel handler with
the company. |
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| Medal of Honor Recipient
Sammy L. Davis shows his Medal of Honor to
6-year-old Dean Campbell during a visit with
soldiers and family members from the Indiana
National Guard's 2219th Brigade Support Company
at the National Guard Armory in Bedford, Ind.,
Feb. 13, 2010. |
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A Vietnam veteran, Davis was awarded the Medal of Honor in
1968 for his actions during an intense enemy mortar attack.
Despite being injured, Davis – a sergeant at the time --
managed to cross a river to rescue three other wounded
soldiers. Since then, the Indiana native and graduate of
Mooresville High School has continued his service to his
country by visiting and speaking with his fellow
servicemembers.
Davis shared lessons he learned from his deployment with the
Guardsmen here.
"I thought I knew what to expect," Davis said. "I saw the
jungle in the movies. I'd been to basic training and all
that, and I knew what I was supposed to do. But it didn't
take me very long to figure out that I didn't know anything
about anything. The more training you can consume and the
more knowledge you have going into any situation in life,
the better you should be able to react to it."
Davis also urged his fellow soldiers to make the most of
their deployment and not to reflect on its negative aspects.
"As I see it, the purpose of life is to enjoy life," Davis
said. "If you consume yourself with the task at hand, when
you get old like me, you suddenly realize there were things
in life you could have enjoyed, but didn't. So I enjoyed
life, because at the time when I was in Vietnam, I was not
assured of tomorrow."
Army Pvt. Allyssa Masterson, one of the 2219th's newest
soldiers, was on hand to hear Davis' words and said she
gained some peace of mind from his advice.
"I believe it makes you a little more at ease when you hear
from somebody who's been deployed," Masterson said. "He
reminded us that you're going to have to do it, so you might
as well think positively about it, be grateful and enjoy
what you're going to do, because there's no reason to harbor
the bad parts of deploying."
Army Col. Ivan Denton, commander of the 219th Battlefield
Surveillance Brigade, was in attendance as well, and said
the unit gained some wisdom through Davis' speech.
"I think it put the unit at ease a bit, especially when he
spoke about enjoying," Denton said. “I can't imagine any of
the soldiers here that didn't flat-out love this visit. It
impacted training, but I think it impacted training in a
very positive way."
Davis spoke about the trials of returning from Vietnam to
face criticism from the American people. While waiting to
fly home to Indiana, Davis said, he was accosted by a group
of anti-war demonstrators at an airport and forced to endure
verbal and physical assaults. Despite the attacks that left
him and his fellow soldiers bloodied and bruised, he said,
not one of them lifted a finger to fight their fellow
Americans.
"To think about how they were treated and how they took it
upon themselves to make sure that future generations of
warriors weren't treated that way meant a lot to me, and I
think it meant a lot to the unit," Denton said. “I think it
instills a sense a pride and some humility about the way
we're treated now, but I hope that the younger folks, as
they [find themselves] around Vietnam veterans, really thank
them for all that they did. I don't think they can hear that
enough."
Despite his place in history as an American hero, Davis
remains humbled by the fact that each opportunity to speak
with the next generation of servicemembers is just his way
of “paying it forward.”
"No matter how often I have the opportunity to speak to
today's military, it always inspires me to see young men and
women, who could be doing so many other things if they
chose, choose to serve our nation," he said. |
Article and photos by Army Sgt. Robert G. Cooper III
120th Public Affairs Detachment
Special to American Forces Press Service
Copyright 2010 |
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