Overview
A quiet room of excited students awaiting Sammy L. Davis. Known for his bravery in the Vietnam war, Davis came to Mooresville High School to visit and speak about his experiences.
History teachers Morgan Mitchell and Michael Butler’s classes were the classes invited. Davis is commonly known as “the real Forrest Gump” but his story goes far beyond this.
On November 18,1967, his unit came under heavy attack, and despite being wounded, Davis solely defended his artillery gun, provided covering fire, and rescued three injured comrades.
These actions led to him being awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military honor. Along with two Purple Heart awards and the Silver Star.
One thing that many do not know about Sammy L. Davis is that he is actually one of Mooresville’s very own alumni. He graduated May 1966, in the North Gym, in the same manner that seniors will graduate in 2024.
Along with his visit to Mooresville High School, there was also a huge commemoration for Sammy L. Davis with the titling of a street called “Sammy L. Davis Medal of Honor Way” in his honor.
Harmonica of Hope
Throughout the time that Davis had to endure many hardships there was one major connector between his men, this was a harmonica. During this much combat it can be very difficult to find positives, so whenever Davis’s mother would send him letters he would start to add little drawings of nearby ducks, the beauty within all of the death surrounding.
She began to question if he was just getting bored out there so she sent him a harmonica, Davis did not know at the time how to play this harmonica but soon he decided to take up the challenge. He learned the song America the Beautiful and this became an anthem of hope and calm in this otherwise terrifying situation, for not only Davis but his comrades.
