George Fleming Davis (March 23, 1911 – January 6, 1945) was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

officer and a recipient of America's highest military decoration, the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

, for actions during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Early life

George F. Davis was born in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

on March 23, 1911.

Navy career

Davis was appointed to the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

from the Naval Reserve in 1930 and graduated in May 1934. Ensign Davis' first duty station was the new heavy cruiser . While in that ship he served as an aircraft gunnery observer with her embarked aviation units. From 1939 to 1941 Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Davis served as an officer of the destroyer and fast minesweeper .

Outbreak of World War II

Following promotion to the rank of lieutenant in mid-1941 he was assigned to the battleship , which was sunk on December 7, 1941, when

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

's surprise

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...

opened the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

. In January 1942, Lieutenant Davis was transferred to the light cruiser , in which he participated in operations in the

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi language, Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a cha ...

, the hard fighting over

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...

and the Central Solomons, and the campaign to recover

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

. He was promoted to lieutenant commander and commander while serving in ''Honolulu'', which he left in mid-1944. Following training in advanced surface warfare techniques, he was given command of the destroyer in late November 1944. On 6 January 1945 his ship was covering minesweeping operations in advance of the Lingayen Gulf invasion when she was attacked by four Japanese

Kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...

s. Though ''Walke'' shot down two, the third plane struck the ship, enveloping her bridge area in burning gasoline. Though horribly burned, Commander Davis remained on his feet, conned the ship, directed damage control efforts and saw to the destruction of the fourth suicide plane. Only when ''Walkes survival was assured did he relinquish his post to be taken below, where he died a short time later. For his conduct, Commander Davis was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. His body was buried at sea.

Awards and honors

His awards include:

Medal of Honor citation

Commander George F. Davis' official Medal of Honor citation is as follows: Moh right

Legacy

The destroyer , 1957–1994, was named in his honor.

References

* : {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, George Fleming 1911 births 1945 deaths United States Navy personnel killed in World War II People who died at sea Burials at sea Foreign-born Medal of Honor recipients United States Navy Medal of Honor recipients World War II recipients of the Medal of Honor Recipients of the Silver Star Recipients of the Legion of Merit Military personnel from Manila United States Navy officers American expatriates in the Philippines