HUNTSVILLE — In one of the many memorable scenes in the movie, “Forrest Gump,” the character receives the Medal of Honor from President Lyndon Johnson for saving several of his comrades.
This week, retired Army Sgt. 1st Class Sammy Davis, Medal of Honor recipient and inspiration for that and other Vietnam War scenes in the movie, spoke of his service and the medal’s meaning.
The event, in the Davidson Center at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, featured an interview with Davis and Robert F. Jerome, who has made it his mission to honor living Medal of Honor recipients and to share their stories. It was presented by Merrill Lynch in Huntsville and organized by Senior Resident Director David Staley.
After graduating High School in 1965 Davis enlisted in the Army and was deployed to Vietnam as an artilleryman. Sitting in two chairs beneath the Saturn V rocket, Jerome asked Davis to recount the battle that led to his heroic efforts that saved the lives of his fellow servicemen.
“Our job was to provide close and continuous support to the infantry, that’s the artillery man’s job,” said Davis. “So, sometimes, we would have to fire almost continuously for eight to ten hours.
“As long as the enemy was attacking our infantrymen you had to do your job.”
On Nov. 18, 1967, Davis’s unit of 42 men came under attack by an enemy force of 1,500. Davis was severely wounded but directed mortar fire at the enemy before crossing a river with a broken back and carrying three of his fellow soldiers back to safety.
Under constant enemy fire, Davis never faltered. When he heard calls for help across the river, Davis said his body was in “real feeble condition.”
Taking him 45 minutes to reach the other side of the river, Davis recounted he found three GIs in a foxhole.
“I was getting so tired,” he said. “I asked the man above me to give me the strength to carry all three of my brothers at one time.”
Despite the broken back, crushed ribs on his right side and other injuries, Davis got the men back to relative safety.
For his actions, Davis was presented the Medal of Honor by President Lyndon Johnson on Nov. 19, 1968.
Jerome, working with the Medal of Honor Foundation and the Medal of Honor Society, said it’s his mission to share a message that he never tires of delivering.
“Freedom is not, has never been and never will be free,” said Jerome. “It comes with a very high price not measured in dollars but in the blood and sacrifice of those who have stood in harm’s way willing if called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice so that you and I can be here in this extraordinary facility tonight as free citizens.”
Jerome manages and hosts events nationwide aimed at honoring many of those awarded our nation’s highest military honor for valor.
“Of the 3,515 awarded in our nation’s history, today there are but 65 living recipients of this our nation’s highest honor,” he said.
Gary Meyer, Merrill Lynch Market Executive, said many in the audience served in the military.
“It’s important to share these stories, we want Sammie’s story to be shared. We appreciate and respect the military folks in this community,” said Meyer. “We’re free because of their sacrifice.”
Davis’s incredible story and journey is featured in the book, “You Don’t Lose ‘Til You Quit Trying: Lessons on Adversity and Victory from a Vietnam Veteran and Medal of Honor Recipient.”
Davis said the book is about “me as a kid and earning a medal of honor”.
“I just grew up with love and loved my fellow man,” he said. “Because that’s what the Medal of Honor is about, it’s about love.”
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