Davis fights blindness, continues guard duty
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For Davis and others who started what is a collaborative effort between the local VFW and the American Legion to perform military funerals, he says it’s the least they can do.
The retired master sergeant and World War II veteran served in four of the war’s five major battles after being drafted from his lumber business in Warren County. Davis is the remaining member of the original honor guard, which he joined in 1946.
When men started returning from the war, there was a need for the service, he said. Today, he feels obligated and although going blind, feels compelled to continue the Warren County service that extends to neighboring counties.
“A lot of people don’t realize but I guess there’s a certain kind of bond among veterans who have been through war that’s just not common to the general public,” Davis said of being a long-standing member of the honor guard. “And even though we may get into a bar-room brawl and fight with each other, we’ve always got that respect for our fallen comrades.”
From 1987 to 1997, it was reported the honor guard administered rites for 493 veterans in several counties, volunteering more than 11,000 hours and traveling more than 80,000 miles. As of last week, the honor guard performed at 28 military funerals, following 64 total in 2001 and 77 last year, he added.
Not everyone has the time or the ability to take several hours out of the day to participate in a military funeral, and Davis, who commands funeral services and gives the orders for the rifle squad to come to attention before they fire off a 21-gun salute, knows he has been fortunate to have the time and health to continue.
At 83, he is proud the closest thing to medication he takes are two vitamins per day. Although his eyesight is failing, he knows the routine so well he can work around it.
Warren County veterans service officer James Green had nothing but praise for Davis.
“He’s been doing it for so long and in the last few months, he has been practically blind, and he’s still out there struggling with us,” Green said.
Davis hopes to continue the service for as long as possible. After all this time, he still considers it an honor to participate.
“The least we can do is show our respect and honor our fallen comrades by giving them a military funeral. We don’t charge anything. It’s all free and we don’t even get a ‘thank you’ hardly for it,” Davis said.
“And of course the last thing in a military funeral is the sound of ‘Taps,’ That is the last bugle call that a soldier hears. That will end his tour of duty and we just got a feeling that we owe our comrades something and the last honor we can give them is a military funeral.”