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Submitted: 5/20/14 • Approved: 5/21/14 • Last Updated: 8/14/15 • R62157-G62157-S3
Wanda
December 15, 1921 - August 14, 1998
Daughter of Roy Rainey Hart
John Pershing
August 6, 1918 - august 18, 1993
Son of Algie Theodore Davis and Effie Dean Smith Davis
Purple Heart
4 Bronze Stars
From his son Michael:
John was a member of the 80th Infantry Divison, Patton's Third Army. The 80th earned the nickname The Troubleshooters, as General Patton would use them in tandem with the 2nd Armored Div. to solve seemingly impossible battlefield problems. He was in the 305th Medical Battalion, a medic, and his combat assignment was with the 80th's Motorized 30 man Recon unit, so he had a front row seat, often from deep in enemy territory, to Patton's drive across Europe. The 80th landed in France on Aug.2, 1944, and was immediately involved in Patton's breakout from the Normandy Hedgerow country. His unit was the one that closed the road on the German 7th Army trying to escape from the Falaise Gap. Then on across France to the Moselle River crossing, Metz, the relief of Bastogne and the 101st Airborne Div. during the Battle of the Bulge, the German's Ardennes Offensive where John suffered with frostbitten feet, but continued to perform his duties. Into Germany where at the battle of Kassel, his Recon unit engaged a Tiger tank, disabled it, and captured the crew. After numerous battles, 277 days in combat, and suffering 17,087 casualities, the 80th was in Austria at the end of the war. His Recon unit received a Presidential Citation, and held the worlds record for ground covered in a single day against a hostile enemy force, of over 60 miles. John himself earned the Combat Medic Badge, 4 Bronze Stars, European Theater Ribbon, American Theater Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal, and was Honorably Discharged in Oct. 1945
Contributed on 5/20/14
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Record #: 62157