Richard Gary Davis was awarded the

Soldier's Medal The Soldier's Medal is an individual decoration of the United States Army. It was introduced as Section 11 of the Air Corps Act, passed by the Congress of the United States on July 2, 1926., Appendix 5, p. 126. The Army' Soldier's Medal is equiv ...

, the Army's highest honor for heroism not involving actual conflict with an enemy, for an action in the Republic of Vietnam on 14 May 1967. While serving as a helicopter door gunner, he was helping load and arm sixty Mk.IV aerial flares into a helicopter at a fueling station at

Chu Lai Chu Lai is a seaport, urban and industrial area in Núi Thành District, Quảng Nam Province, Vietnam. The city is served by Chu Lai International Airport. It is also the site of the Chu Lai Open Economic Zone (Vietnamese: ''Với Khu Kinh T� ...

, Vietnam. Noticing that one of the flares had fused, he retrieved it and ran with it across a taxiway and threw it into a safe area. Had it ignited in the helicopter the flare would have ignited the other flares and subsequently the thousands of gallons of fuel at the fuel farm. After serving in the Army, Davis had a long career as a pilot, flight instructor and pilot evaluator, eventually retiring from Avianca Airlines in Colombia as an instructor/check airman on the

Fokker 100 The Fokker 100 is a regional jet produced by Fokker in the Netherlands. The Fokker 100 is based on the Fokker F28 with a fuselage stretched by to seat up to 109 passengers, up from 85. It is powered by two newer Rolls-Royce Tay turbofans, ...

aircraft. Davis has been recognized by the

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

by inclusion in the prestigious Airman Certification Database.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Richard Recipients of the Soldier's Medal