Henry Wesley Davis

Conflicts & Campaigns

• Pacific Theater of Operations; October 26, 1942 - May 27, 1945
• Guadalcanal; New Guinea; New Georgia; Philippines
• "One night I had the opportunity to slip behind the lines and steal gasoline. This was reported in an Associated Press dispatch from the Solomon Islands; Pvt. Henry W. Davis, Cairo, Georgia, was known as the most ingenious man in his company. He once stole a canteen of gasoline from the enemy and everyone in his company had a hot meal the next day.

Significant Duty Stations

• Inducted; Fort McPherson, Georgia.
• Company C, 172nd Infantry Regiment, 43rd Infantry Division
• Discharged; Camp Livingston, Virginia.

Decorations & Citations

• Combat Infantryman Badge; Bronze Star Medal
• Philippine Liberation Medal
• Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with three battle stars
• Good Conduct Medal; World War II Victory Medal

Notes

US Army service number 34-269-218. Born; Leesburg, Georgia. Instructor; Basic Infantry, instructed newly inducted recruits in infantry basics, such subjects as drill, field problems, first aid, sanitation, military courtesy and discipline. Served as messenger and rifleman in Southwest Pacific. "One day we stopped for chow. When I opened my can of beans, I discovered a bullet had went through my backpack and through the can of beans and they were spoiled. Olen Dekle and Red Cullen shared their rations. Only 25 of the 225 men in my company that went overseas when I did came back. I was aboard the USS President Coolidge when it was sunk by US mines at Espiritu Santo. Parts Manager for R. R. VanLandingham Company, Cairo, Georgia. Burial; Cairo Cemetery, Cairo, Georgia.