Black Special Forces soldier receives Medal of Honor after 60-year wait
One of the first black officers to lead a US Army's Special Forces team in combat has received America's highest military award nearly 60 years after he was first recommended for bravery in the Vietnam War.
Retired Colonel Paris Davis's nomination for the Medal of Honor was lost twice by the military at the height of the civil rights movement.
Presenting him with the belated recognition at the White House, President Joe Biden said: "You're looking at courage in the flesh."
In June 1965, after being shot multiple times, then Capt Davis risked his own life to protect his fellow soldiers and endured a gruelling 19-hour firefight against enemy North Vietnamese fighters.
When one of his superiors ordered him to get to safety, Davis said, according to Biden: "Sir, I'm just not going to leave. I still have an American out there," and he went back into the firefight to carry out an injured medic.
Mr Biden described how Mr Davis volunteered to serve a country that in many places still refused to serve people who looked like him, noting that the retired colonel is an African American.
He continued: "Right away, it was clear that Paris was a born warrior.
"He became an Army Ranger... then, he jumped at the chance to join the Green Berets, becoming one of the nation's first Black Special Forces officers.
"Davis will still stand alongside the nation's pioneering heroes."
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