American Valor Quarterly Issue 10 - Summer 2013 | Page 10

Raymond G. Davis Award
For distinguished service in the United States military during the Korean War
Raymond G. Davis was appointed a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps in 1938, following his college graduation
and ROTC training. Throughout his military career, Davis fought in three wars and fourteen different campaigns. He rose to the
rank of general while earning 18 American and seven foreign awards. Among these were the Navy Cross, earned for actions at Peleliu
during World War II and the Distinguished Service Medal during Vietnam. However, it was in December of 1950, near the Chosin
Reservoir in Korea, that Davis would earn the acclaim that has made him legendary within the Marine Corps. While carrying his
wounded Marines along, he led his battalion over icy ridges to rescue a stranded rifle company. During this mission alone he was
credited with saving more than 1,000 Marines from certain death and 6,000 additional Marines from possible destruction. For this,
he was awarded the Medal of Honor, and remains one of the great heroes in Marine Corps history.
Previous Recipients: 2011 - The 2nd Ranger Infantry Company (Airborne) 2010 - SFC Ronald E. Rosser
2009 - Colonel Buzz Aldrin; 2008 - Lieutenant General Julius W. Becton Jr.
2007 - Captain Thomas J. Hudner, Jr.; 2006 - Hiroshi “Hershey” Miyamura

Major General Frederick “Boots” Blesse
United States Air Force (Ret)
Frederick C. Blesse – known throughout his life as “Boots” – was born to serve his country in the United
States military. The son of a general in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, Boots was born in the Panama
Canal Zone in 1921, grew up in the Philippines, and graduated West