Friday, 58 years after being recommended for the award, retired Army Colonel Paris Davis received the Medal of Honor, the highest military honor, in a White House ceremony for his bravery during the Vietnam War.
Biden referred to Davis as "an incredible man," "a true hero of our nation," and referred to the event as perhaps the "most consequential" of his presidency in his address to a capacity audience in the White House East Room that included Davis, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and previous Medal of Honor recipients.
During a battle that lasted more than 20 hours in July 1965 near Bong Son, Davis received an honor for his actions in Vietnam. He led an inexperienced South Vietnamese force and other American soldiers on a nighttime raid against a North Vietnamese fighting force that was vastly superior at the time. At the time, he was a captain in the army and the commander of a special forces airborne group.