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 Soldier's Medal is equivalent ...

, 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: ''Khu Kinh Tế M� ...

, 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 A flight instructor is a person who teaches others to operate aircraft. Specific privileges granted to holders of a flight instructor qualification vary from country to country, but very generally, a flight instructor serves to enhance or evaluate ...

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 that was produced by Fokker in the Netherlands. The Fokker 100 was 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 tur ...

aircraft. Davis has been recognized by the FAA by inclusion in the prestigious Airman Certification Database.

References

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