Private First Class Davis was originally rejected by the marines after being drafted in 1966. He got a letter from a Charlotte physician and enlisted in the Army in July of 1968, he was sent to Vietnam January of 1969 and served as machine-gunner with the 25th Infantry Division. While on a sweep mission Davis's Company came under heavy volume of fire, during this two men from Company C were fatally wounded and left in the enemy kill zone, after Davis's unit regrouped Davis volunteered to recover the two men. Private Davis exposed himself as he moved through 100 meters of enemy fire and carried back one of the casualties and carried him back to the main unit. During his attempt to rescue the second soldier Davis was killed by enemy fire. For this action of bravery he was posthumously awarded the Silver Star. He had served in Vietnam a total of seven weeks.