Michael Shannon Davison Jr. (born 19 November 1941) is a retired

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

Lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Early life and education

Davison was born on 19 November 1941 in

El Paso El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

, Texas into a military family. His father Michael S. Davison was a United States Army four-star general who served as Commander in Chief, U.S. Army Europe/Commander, Central Army Group from 1971 to 1975. He graduated from the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

in 1964.

Military career

In October 1967 then Captain Davison took command of Company C, 5th Battalion, 7th Cavalry. During the

Battle of Huế The Battle of Huế (31 January 1968 – 2 March 1968), was a major battle in the Tết Offensive launched by North Vietnam and the Việt Cộng during the Vietnam War. Initially losing control of most of Huế and its surroundings, the c ...

, from 8–25 February 1968 Davison's company was heavily engaged in combat as they attempted to sever the

People's Army of Vietnam The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), officially the Vietnam People's Army (VPA; , , ), also recognized as the Vietnamese Army (), the People's Army () or colloquially the Troops ( ), is the national Military, military force of the Vietnam, S ...

(PAVN) supply lines into the city of Huế. For his actions during the battle on 12 February, Davison was subsequently awarded the

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...

. From June 1994 to July 1997 Major general Davison served as commander of

United States Army Security Assistance Command The United States Army Security Assistance Command (USASAC) implements security assistance programs, including the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, for the Department of the Army. USASAC is responsible for the United States Army securit ...

. Davison retired from the Army in 2000.

Personal

In the

2024 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 5, 2024. The Republican Party (United States), Republican Party's Ticket (election), ticket—Donald Trump, who was the 45th president of ...

, Davison endorsed

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 49th vice president of the United States from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. She is the first female, first African American, and ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davison, Michael S. Jr. 1941 births United States Army generals United States Military Academy alumni United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War Recipients of the Silver Star Living people Military personnel from El Paso, Texas