The Journal Gazette
Jeff Wiehe
December 10, 2014
He carries the harmonica whenever he’s in uniform.
It’s been nearly 50 years since he first learned to play it, teaching himself the notes to “Shenandoah” solely to please a sergeant who would make the rounds of his artillery unit in Vietnam.
“It’s getting better,” the sergeant would tell him, noting that he needed to hold that note longer or another note shorter.
Sammy L. Davis brought out his harmonica Tuesday for the people gathered in an auditorium at Indiana Tech, and he told them this:
“I hope this finds a place in your heart and renews your soul.”
Those people, they were there to hear his story.
It’s a story about a 42-man artillery unit just west of Cai Lay, Vietnam, trying to hold off 1,500 swarming members of the North Vietnamese Army early one November morning in 1967.
It’s about how one of those young men manned a lone howitzer and fended off hundreds of enemies, and how, despite suffering horrendous injuries, he used an air mattress to cross a deep river to rescue three of his comrades.
If this sounds like a movie, well, there’s a reason people call Davis, a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient and a man who put a harmonica to his mouth to play “Shenandoah” before the rapt audience, the “real Forrest Gump.”
‘“Forrest Gump” based on me’
read more here
Sammy was at the Homes from Our Troops Fundraiser a couple of years ago and we had some time to sit down for a chat with his wife Dixie. In the first video, Sammy talks about playing Shenandoah.
May 15, 2012
During the Orlando Nam Knights Homes For Our Troops fundraiser, MOH Sammy Davis tells the story of how he became known for playing Shenandoah. This fundraiser will be called the Dannis Wolf Bish Memorial fundraiser from now on. Dannis was killed right after the bike week party and Homes For Our Troops was his passion.
May 7, 2012
At the Orlando Nam Knights fundraiser for Homes For Our Troops, Vietnam Veteran and Medal of Honor hero Sammy Davis talked to me about what it was like coming home after all he'd been through. It is a story few have heard before. As Sammy put it, it is one of the reasons no other veteran will ever come home treated like that again.
May 8, 2012
Vietnam Medal of Honor Sammy Davis has a message to all the troops coming home. Talk about it! Don't try to forget it but you can make peace with it. Dixie Davis has a message for the spouses too. Help them to talk about it with you or with someone else.
Bill Murray was considered for the role of Forrest, Chevy Chase turned down the role of Forrest, and three others turned down the role of Bubba-David Alan Grier, Dave Chappelle and Ice Cube. Forrest Gump When Forrest Gump was in the army, his biggest priority was saving the lives of his friends.
ReplyDelete