Re: Passing of Gen. Ray Davis

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----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Davino" <mdavino@yahoo.com>
To: <KOREAN-WAR-L@listproc.cc.ku.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 2003 11:43 AM
Subject: Re: Passing of Gen. Ray Davis


> More on Gen Davis:
> 
> Atlanta Journal-Constitution
> September 9, 2003 
> 
> 'Marine's Marine' Laid To Rest
> 
> By Bill Hendrick, Staff
> 
> They trooped in past the flag-draped coffin containing
> the body of Gen. Raymond Gilbert Davis, clad in his
> beloved dress blues with the blue-ribboned Medal of
> Honor clasped tightly around his neck.
> 
> Many of the old Marines wore their dress uniforms,
> too, including more than a dozen generals who traveled
> from Washington to pay final respects to the man who,
> until his death Wednesday at age 88, was the most
> decorated American alive.
> 
> White-haired men, some in wheelchairs and others
> holding canes, dabbed at tears as Davis was eulogized
> by retired Marine Gen. Robert Barrow, 81, who
> described Davis as "the finest man I've ever known, a
> Marine's Marine. I loved him," he said, choking with
> emotion.
> 
> More than 400 people packed the pews in the sanctuary
> and balcony of Davis' church, Conyers First United
> Methodist. Hundreds more watched the funeral on
> television screens set up in nearby churches and a
> city building.
> 
> Wayne Kerr, representing the family, thanked U.S. Sen.
> Zell Miller, who was in the first row of pews to the
> right of Gov. Sonny Perdue and the left of U.S. Rep.
> David Scott, for nominating Davis for the Presidential
> Medal of Freedom, and said the general "left an
> example few of us can follow."
> 
> Barrow joked that had Davis been alive in "the War
> Between the States, William Tecumseh Sherman would
> have never gotten into Atlanta."
> 
> Men who had known Davis during his service in World
> War II, the Korean War or in Vietnam brushed at tears
> when two young Marines walked in slowly and stood
> rigidly on each side of the coffin. One faced the
> casket, saluted, and bent over the body, carefully
> removing the Medal of Honor from Davis' neck and
> placing it on an 18-inch red velvet sheet, held by the
> other serviceman.
> 
> They both saluted and marched out. The medals were
> transferred to a mahogany box and given to Davis' wife
> of 62 years, Knox Davis, at the grave site at Forest
> Lawn Memorial Gardens in College Park. The flag that
> had draped his coffin was presented to her by Gen.
> Michael Hagee, commandant of the Marine Corps. Seven
> riflemen fired a salute after the casket arrived,
> borne on a horse-drawn caisson.
> 
> Hero at Chosin
> 
> Davis, who won the nation's highest medal for heroism
> at the Chosin Reservoir in bitterly cold conditions,
> was the most decorated Marine of his generation. He
> was one of 94 men -- three Georgians -- to win the
> Medal of Honor in the Korean War. His chestful of
> awards also included the Navy Cross, the nation's
> second highest decoration for bravery, two Silver
> Stars and the Bronze Star with Combat "V" for valor.
> 
> In his autobiography, Davis told how he led about 700
> Marines into what some considered a suicide mission at
> Chosin. Told to hold a key mountain pass to relieve a
> stranded rifle company and open the way to the sea for
> two Marine regiments, Davis led his men through eight
> miles of icy terrain against overwhelming Chinese
> forces. Davis said a sheen of ice covered his face and
> the bodies of all of his men. Davis was wounded in the
> fighting, which lasted from Dec. 1 to Dec. 5, 1950.
> 
> The general also led a division in the Vietnam War,
> then retired in 1972 as assistant commandant of the
> Marine Corps he joined in the 1930s.
> 
> A native of Fitzgerald in South Georgia, Davis
> graduated from Tech High School in Atlanta and Georgia
> Tech. He spent his last years living in Conyers, still
> active when he died. He spoke often to schoolchildren
> and had been scheduled to make a speech Monday in
> Marietta.
> 
> The church was full of veterans from all branches of
> the military. Tommy Clack of Conyers was there in his
> wheelchair. He lost three limbs in Vietnam. Also there
> were frail men who ran up and down icy hills with
> Davis in Korea in December 1950. Two other Medal of
> Honor winners were in the church: retired Marine Maj.
> Gen. Jim Livingston, 64, who made the trip from New
> Orleans, and Harvey Barnum, assistant secretary of the
> Navy.
> 
> Mack Abbott, head of the Atlanta chapter of the Pearl
> Harbor Survivors Association, led a half-dozen members
> of his organization, to which Davis was scheduled to
> speak on Sept. 27.
> 
> "I loved that man, I always did," said Abbott, holding
> the hand of his wife, Alice. "He was the greatest
> Marine in history."
> 
> South Korea represented
> 
> That was a common refrain, from veterans of other
> nationalities, too. A contingent of South Korean
> Marines sat in silence in an adjacent auditorium.
> Louis Lin, 72-year-old chairman of the Republic of
> China Veterans Association in Atlanta, was spokesman
> for a half dozen members of his group, which he
> stressed represented Taiwan, not Communist China.
> 
> "General Davis came to us on Aug. 30 and made a
> speech," Lin said. "It was his last speech in public.
> He was our hero."
> 
> When the funeral ended, Hagee walked just behind the
> casket as it was carried by seven young Marines to a
> white Cadillac hearse. Marines lined both sides of the
> street, saluting as the casket was placed inside. As
> the hearse inched away, Boy Scouts saluted, as did
> elderly residents of Conyers.
> 
> "We're all just overwhelmed," said Miles Davis, one of
> the general's sons. Miles Davis, 57, was wounded twice
> in Vietnam. His Purple Hearts were pinned on by his
> father. "We knew he had a lot of friends," he said
> Monday, "but we had no idea how many and how strongly
> they felt about him."
> 
> Members of a group called the Chosin Few for the place
> Davis made famous drove long distances to honor him.
> Harry Bruce, 75, who was a Marine sergeant in those
> "terribly cold days," said driving from Conroe, Texas,
> was the least he could do.
> 
> "Thanks to General Davis, a lot of people are alive
> today who wouldn't have been had it not been for him,"
> he said.
> 
> Colleagues' tributes
> 
> "He was the last of the generals, the last of the old
> breed." -- Retired Marine Master Sgt. Eric English of
> Blairsville
> 
> "I always enjoyed shaking his hand because I knew I
> was touching greatness." -- Mike Breedlove, a Conyers
> land planner working with a veterans foundation on a
> memorial to Georgia veterans
> 
> "Thanks to General Davis, a lot of people are alive
> today who wouldn't have been had it not been for him."
> -- Harry Bruce, 75, of Conroe, Texas, a sergeant at
> Chosin Reservoir in Korea, the action for which Davis
> was awarded the Medal of Honor
> 
> "He told you exactly what he thought. But, hell, he
> earned the right." -- Warren Park, Marine veteran who
> knew Davis through a Henry County VFW post
> 
> "I loved that man, I always did. He was the greatest
> Marine in history." -- Mack Abbott, head of the
> Atlanta chapter of the Pearl Harbor Survivors
> Association
> 
> -- Compiled by Michael Pearson and Bill Hendrick
> 
> --- "M. Katz" <mmkatz@aya.yale.edu> wrote:
> > from Mandy Katz:
> > 
> > Many of you may already know of the death on
> > September 3 in Georgia of 
> > Gen. Ray Davis, recipient of the Congressional Medal
> > of Honor.  
> 
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