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for a beleaguered rifle company. Caught on an exposed hillside by heavy, grazing fire from a well-entrenched German force, his machine gunners were reluctant to risk putting their guns into action. Crawling fifty yards to the nearest machine gun, Staff
Sergeant Davila set it up alone and opened fire on the enemy. In order to observe the effect of his fire, Sergeant Davila fired from the kneeling position, ignoring the enemy fire that struck the tripod and passed between his legs. Ordering a gunner to take over, he crawled forward to a vantage point and directed the firefight with hand and arm signals until both hostile machine guns were silenced. Bringing his three remaining machine guns into action, he drove the enemy to a reserve position two hundred yards to the rear. When he received a painful wound in the leg, he dashed to a burned tank and, despite the crash of bullets on the hull, engaged a second enemy force from the tank's turret. Dismounting, he advanced 130 yards in short rushes, crawled 20 yards and charged into an enemy-held house to eliminate the defending force of five with a hand grenade and rifle fire. Climbing to the attic, he straddled a large shell hole in the wall and opened fire on the enemy. Although the walls of the house were crumbling, he continued to fire until he had destroyed two more machine guns. His intrepid actions brought desperately needed heavy weapons support to a hard-pressed rifle company and silenced four machine gunners, which forced the enemy to abandon their prepared positions. Staff Sergeant Davila's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the United States Army.
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269:, which broke through the German mountain strongholds surrounding the Anzio beachhead. His company was under a heavy enemy attack and for an unknown reason his machine gunners were reluctant to risk putting their guns into action. Realizing that his company was in danger, Davila crawled 50 yards to the nearest
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Staff
Sergeant Rudolph B. Davila distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action, on 28 May 1944, near Artena, Italy. During the offensive which broke through the German mountain strongholds surrounding the Anzio beachhead, Staff Sergeant Davila risked death to provide heavy weapons support
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Davila continued to serve with his company after he recovered from his leg wound. A few months after the Artena attack, Davila found himself in France's Vosges
Mountains. He received a chest wound from a shell which ricocheted off a tree as he was ordering his men to storm a German tank. The tank
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His wife, Harriet Davila, lobbied Army officials to award the Medal of Honor to her husband based on the actions he performed during the Allied offensive in Italy, after she became aware of her husband's actions. For years, she petitioned the government for her husband's medal — making phone calls,
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Davila received a battlefield commission to
Lieutenant and even though a Captain in the rifle company said he would recommend Davila for the Medal of Honor, the highest honor for battlefield valor, Davila was instead awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Army's second highest military honor.
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His fellow machine gunners reacted and Davila directed their firepower with hand and arm signals until the two enemy hostile machine guns were silenced. Despite being wounded by the enemy, he continued his assault by engaging the enemy from the turret of a burnt tank.
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ceremony. Only seven of 22 recipients were still alive when the medals were handed out. Previously only two of the 40,000-plus Asian-Americans who served in World War II had been awarded the Medal of Honor.
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That is why we are proud to honor here today the service of 2nd
Lieutenant Rudolph B. Davila, an American of Filipino and Spanish descent, who risked his life to help break through the German lines near
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and went inside the farmhouse. He tossed the grenades at the attic and shot at the troops inside, destroying two more enemy machine gun nests. The enemy was forced to abandon their prepared positions.
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309:. There he met a nurse by the name of Harriet and three months later they were married. He continued his education and earned a bachelor's and master's degrees from the
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Staff
Sergeant assigned to Company H of the 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. On May 28, 1944, his company was involved in an offensive, near Artena,
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213:. He was the only person of Filipino ancestry to receive the medal for their actions in the European theatre. He was initially awarded the
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in World War II. Congress reviewed the records to determine whether they were unfairly denied the military's highest award for valor.
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when he was a child. There he was raised and received his primary and secondary education. Davila enlisted in the Army from
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writing letters and researching military records to prove her husband deserved the Medal of Honor. No reply ever came.
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Davila then spotted what he believed to be a rifle barrel in a farmhouse window. He grabbed a
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Subsequently, Davila was honored by the city of Vista. He served as the guest speaker at the
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secured a
Congressionally mandated review of records for Asian-Americans who had earned the
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657:"President William J. Clinton's Comments Honoring Asian American Medal of Honor Recipients"
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on June 22. Harriet Davila, his wife, had died six months before, on
December 25, 1999.
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749:"Belated recognition Asian-Americans get top honor – Vista man waited 56 years"
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and fired over 750 rounds into the enemy strongholds in the foothills.
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on
January 26, 2002, in Vista, California. He was buried at
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First Lieutenant Rudolph B. Davila, Medal of Honor recipient
631:"Rudolph Davila, 85, Recipient of Highest Award for Valor"
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Among Davila's decorations and medals were the following:
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Burial Detail: Davila, Rudolph B (Section 67, Grave 3457)
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shell caused injuries that left his right arm paralyzed.
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US Army officer and Medal of Honor recipient (1916–2002)
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in 1977 with his wife after he retired from teaching.
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Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company H, 7th Infantry.
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585:List of Medal of Honor recipients for World War II
777:"22 Asian Americans Inducted into Hall of Heroes"
655:Office of the Press Secretary (3 December 2010).
883:American military personnel of Filipino descent
829:at ArlingtonCemetery.net, an unofficial website
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517:European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
233:mother in El Paso, Texas. His family moved to
903:World War II recipients of the Medal of Honor
181:(April 27, 1916 – January 26, 2002), born in
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858:United States Army Medal of Honor recipients
853:United States Army personnel of World War II
721:"21 Asian-Americans Receive Medal of Honor"
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700:Hispanic Recipients of the Medal of Honor
898:University of Southern California alumni
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629:Goldstein, Richard (11 February 2002).
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661:U.S. Army Center of Military History
257:Grave at Arlington National Cemetery
913:Military personnel from California
888:American people of Spanish descent
600:Hispanic Americans in World War II
590:Hispanic Medal of Honor recipients
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791:"Davila, Medal of Honor citation"
580:List of Medal of Honor recipients
311:University of Southern California
779:. American Forces Press Service.
775:Williams, Rudi (June 28, 2000).
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747:Dwight Daniels (22 June 2000).
356:inducted the soldiers into the
908:People from Watts, Los Angeles
325:DSC upgraded to Medal of Honor
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873:People from Vista, California
391:April 27, 1916, El Paso, TX
340:On June 21, 2000, President
878:United States Army officers
427:Arlington National Cemetery
381:Artena, Italy, May 28, 1944
335:Distinguished Service Cross
215:Distinguished Service Cross
83:Arlington National Cemetery
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595:List of Filipino Americans
522:World War II Victory Medal
201:descent, who received the
358:Pentagon's Hall of Heroes
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540:Foreign unit decorations
534:Combat Infantryman Badge
412:Veterans of Foreign Wars
329:In 1996, Hawaii Senator
94:United States of America
754:San Diego Union Tribune
512:American Campaign Medal
437:Awards and recognitions
364:Medal of Honor citation
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374:Rank and organization:
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225:Davila was born to a
179:Rudolph Bianco Davila
139:3rd Infantry Division
135:7th Infantry Regiment
112:Years of service
386:Los Angeles, Calif.
431:Arlington, Virginia
384:Entered service at:
307:Modesto, California
205:for his actions in
665:United States Army
418:ceremony in 2001.
369:Davila, Rudolph B.
263:United States Army
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191:United States Army
106:United States Army
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71:Vista, California
23:Rudolph B. Davila
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827:Rudolph B Davila
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801:on 26 July 2017.
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51:April 27, 1916
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507:Purple Heart
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249:World War II
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211:World War II
193:officer, of
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163:Purple Heart
149:World War II
145:Battles/wars
66:(2002-01-26)
848:2002 deaths
843:1916 births
406:Later years
346:White House
271:machine gun
243:Los Angeles
221:Early years
133:Company H,
837:Categories
760:8 December
732:8 December
640:8 December
606:References
239:California
90:Allegiance
47:1916-04-27
301:Back home
115:1941–1945
558:See also
286:grenades
284:and two
231:Filipino
199:Filipino
189:, was a
100:Service/
528:Badges:
227:Spanish
209:during
195:Spanish
183:El Paso
172:Teacher
670:18 May
423:cancer
155:Awards
102:branch
677:Anzio
389:Born:
315:Vista
282:rifle
267:Italy
235:Watts
207:Italy
187:Texas
762:2009
734:2009
672:2011
642:2009
130:Unit
120:Rank
73:, US
61:Died
56:, US
41:Born
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
