Black History

Delayed, Not Denied: Vietnam Veteran Col. Paris Davis Finally Receives Medal of Honor

Col. Paris Davis, U.S. Army (Retired), was awarded the Medal of Honor on Friday on March 3, 2023, at the White House. Davis was presented with the award by President Joe Biden. The 83-year-old former Green Beret was finally honored for his actions in Binh Dinh Province, South Vietnam on June 18, 1965. The award came more than half a century after Davis risked his life to save some of his men by fighting off the North Vietnamese.

Published

2 years ago

March 14, 2023

Oakland Post

President Joe Biden awarded the Medal of Honor to retired U.S. Army Colonel Paris Davis for his remarkable heroism during the Vietnam War on March 3, 2023.

By Conway Jones

Col. Paris Davis, U.S. Army (Retired), was awarded the Medal of Honor on Friday on March 3, 2023, at the White House. Davis was presented with the award by President Joe Biden.

The 83-year-old former Green Beret was finally honored for his actions in Binh Dinh Province, South Vietnam on June 18, 1965. The award came more than half a century after Davis risked his life to save some of his men by fighting off the North Vietnamese.

The belated recognition came after the recommendation for his medal was lost, resubmitted — and then lost again. In 2016, advocates for Davis’ award re-created and resubmitted the paperwork.

“You are everything this medal means,” Biden told Davis. “You’re everything our nation is at our best. Brave and big-hearted, determined, and devoted, selfless and steadfast.”

At a later ceremony in the Pentagon hosted by Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen H. Hicks, Davis, the most recent recipient of the Medal of Honor, was inducted into the Pentagon’s Hall of Heroes.

The colonel spoke of his two tours in Vietnam. “These experiences impacted me and my view about the importance of service, dedication and teamwork, then and now,” he said through his daughter. “I am so proud to be an American soldier and a Green Beret. I am grateful for what the Army provided me and what America has given me — opportunity, purpose and pride.

Davis is one of only four service members in U.S. military history to receive both the Soldier’s Medal and the Medal of Honor.

Davis was born in 1939, in Cleveland, Ohio. Following his 26-year military career, Davis published the Metro Herald newspaper in Alexandria, Va., where he currently lives, for 30 years. The newspaper reported on community news and civil rights issues.

…The Medal of Honor was created during the American Civil War and is the highest military decoration presented by the United States government to a member of its armed forces.

Of the 3,470 Medals of Honor awarded as of June 2015, 92 have been awarded to African-American recipients. Twenty-six African Americans earned the Medal of Honor during the American Civil War.

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Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

Published

6 days ago

June 7, 2025

Oakland Post

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Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

2 weeks ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.