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Contact Info
Home Town Roxborough PA
Last Address Lancaster, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Date of Passing Nov 07, 2006
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Declared KIA for two years, Ed Davis was
held captive in North Viet-Nam for 7.5 Years
Ed Davis was 25 when the A-1 Skyraider he was flying during his 57th combat mission was shot down over North Vietnam in August 1965. He spent the next 7½ years in a series of prisoner-of-war camps that included the infamous "Hanoi Hilton.
Retired Navy Capt. Ed Davis, 67, who spent 7 1/2 years as a North Vietnamese prisoner of war and later was a motivational speaker focusing on management under difficult circumstances, died Nov. 7 at a hospice in Lancaster, Pa. He had pancreatic cancer.
Capt. Davis flew 57 combat missions off the aircraft carrier Oriskany during the Vietnam War before being shot down in his A-1 Skyraider on Aug. 26, 1965. After spending the night in a rainy ditch accompanied by a large snake, he was captured and marched for 19 days to Hanoi.
Until his release Feb. 12, 1973, he was a prisoner of war at the "Hanoi Hilton" prison compound. A common torture, he said, was an arm contortion known as the "rope trick," in which his arms were forced behind his back and toward his head.
The pain was intense, and passing out was inevitable. He once described a stalling technique popular among captives called the "bounce-back," in which they would frustrate the North Vietnamese by waking from their delirium and starting a story from the beginning.
To avoid being repulsed by what he ate, he never watched what he put in his mouth. "If you don't look, you don't see," he later said. "If you don't see, you don't care, and it won't bother you."
He was a lieutenant commander at the time of his release with other long-serving POWs as part of Operation Homecoming. Before leaving for the United States from Clark Air Base in the Philippines, he gained media attention for keeping a pet puppy from his detention.
Davis comments on life after he returned and a dog named MaCo:
My story is rather simple as I look at it now. I am home and everything is fine. Elaine and I are expecting our first child in November 1973. MaCo is well and happy and took to her new life like a duck to water. One important point I do wish to make, MaCo was not given to me by a guard. In simple terms, I adopted her in Hanoi and when it came time to leave, the "V" chose to let me take her from the camp in order to avoid trouble (strictly my opinion). From that point I carried her through the airport ceremony in my bag and no one was the wiser. You could safely call it a "squeeze play and a lot of luck."
I am very happy that so many nice feelings have been expressed about MaCo but at the same time I wish to stress that it is the return of the POWs and the accountability of our MIAs that is important. I am proud to have returned with them and the fact that I happened to bring MaCo is only incidental to the real story - the return of our men and the days of their imprisonment.
I do not want either my dog or I be to taken for something we are not. I am an Ex-POW. She is a lucky dog. I think you understand my point. In short, I am only one among many. As we all know so well, people can be so nice Elaine and I have felt the warmth and tenderness and pride of the American people. We are so very grateful. It is a feeling upon which to build a future.
Other Comments:
VIET-NAM CAMPAIGNS (USN)
Ed Davis was there during all 17 campaigns; 16 as a P.O.W.
1. Vietnam Advisory Campaign - 15 March 1962 - 7 March 1965
2. Vietnam Defense Campaign - 8 March - 24 December 1965
3. Vietnamese Counteroffensive - 25 December 1965 - 30 June 1966
4. Vietnamese Counteroffensive Phase II - 1 July 1966 - 31 May 1967
5. Vietnamese Counteroffensive Phase III - 1 June 1967 - 29 January 1968
6. Tet Counteroffensive - 30 January - l April 1968
7. Vietnamese Counteroffensive Phase IV - 2 April - 30 June 1968
8. Vietnamese Counteroffensive Phase V - 1 July - l November 1968
9. Vietnamese Counteroffensive Phase VI - 2 November 1968 - 22 February 1969
10. Tet 69/Counteroffensive - 23 February - 8 June 1969
11. Vietnam Summer - Fall 1969 - 9 June - 31 October 1969
12. Vietnam Winter - Spring 1970 - 1 November 1969 - 30 April 1970
13. Sanctuary Counteroffensive - 1 May - 30 June 1970
14. Vietnamese Counteroffensive Phase VII - l July 1970 - 30 June 1971
15. Consolidation I - 1 July 1971 - 30 November 1971
16. Consolidation II - 1 December 1971 - 29 March 1972
17. Vietnam Ceasefire Campaign - 30 March 1972 - 28 January 1973
Davis, A-1 Skyraider flying during his 57th combat mission was shot down over North Vietnam
Date
Not Specified
Last Updated: Nov 19, 2010
Comments
Davis was 25 when the A-1 Skyraider he was flying during his 57th combat mission was shot down over North Vietnam in August 1965. He spent the next 7½ years in a series of prisoner-of-war camps that included the infamous "Hanoi Hilton."
Dick Hoxworth of WGAL-TV said he had the honor of interviewing Davis three days after his release from captivity in February 1973.
"I was just struck by this man," Hoxworth said. "He was a quiet-speaking man who expressed no bitterness toward his captors, even though they robbed him of 7½ years."
"He realized that although he lost 7½ years, they can't be replaced, and he wasn't about to waste the time he had ahead of him," he said.
Davis and Hoxworth kept in touch and eventually became close friends.
"I considered him my brother," Hoxworth said.
Hoxworth also served in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War and possibly processed the casualty reports that included Davis' name as a prisoner of war.
"He was a true hero," Hoxworth said.
Davis was honored with three Silver Stars, the Legion of Merit with combat citation, four Bronze Stars, five Air Medals, two Purple Hearts, three Navy commendation medals and numerous unit and campaign awards.
Davis, however, did not consider himself a hero.
"He said he was no hero; he was a survivor," Hoxworth said.
"He truly loved America. He was the consummate patriot."
During an interview commemorating the 25th anniversary of his release, Davis told Hoxworth, "When I first saw that flag (after his return from Vietnam), I knew it was all worth it."
Since that time, Hoxworth said, Davis "lived every day to the best of his ability. He truly loved life. He made the most of it. He loved people, and people loved him."
During Hoxworth's 38 years as a television newsman, he said he met many fascinating people.
"But not many men who stood taller than Ed Davis," he said. "A lot walked in his shadow."
Although he had always known him as either "Sir" or "Captain," State Rep. Gibson C. Armstrong said Davis had become a very close friend.
"He was a gentleman," Armstrong said. "He was tough when he needed to be tough. He had a quick wit and a lot of insight. I liked being around him and hoped what he had would rub off on me."
Aside from his parents and family, Davis "had as much influence on my life as anybody," Armstrong said. "He helped me get mentally ready for the rigors of the (Naval) service academy.
The day before I left for plebe summer, he told me I should remember one thing: 'If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right.' Given his 7½ years as a POW, that one sentence of advice took on new meaning. He was the quintessential Naval officer."
Armstrong said Davis also was an "outstanding" public speaker because he had a commanding presence about him, and he spoke from the heart."
Former Lancaster County Commissioner Jim Huber said Davis' death is "the loss of a special friend and a great war hero. He was the epitome of heroism. His 7½ years as a POW involved many sacrifices.
"He served his country well."
Huber and Davis also were members of the same Sertoma club.
"He had a great commitment to his community and country in service to Sertoma," Huber said. "Ed was a very special person and a good friend. It is a great loss to the community."
Born in Norristown, Davis was the son of the late Edward F. and Joan D. Frankenburg Davis.
He attended St. Joseph's Preparatory School, Villanova University and the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, where he graduated in 1962 with a bachelor's degree in naval science. He served with Attack Squadron 152, operating from USS Oriskany.
After returning from Vietnam, he completed graduate work in international relations at the University of Virginia and served as an associate professor and executive officer of the Naval ROTC unit at the university. He then returned to Washington, D.C., as the Navy's director of advertising.
He later was appointed commanding officer of the 38-county Navy Recruiting District for Eastern and Central Pennsylvania, based in Harrisburg, where Armstrong first came into contact with him. Davis retired in 1987.
He then worked as flight department director for the former Ferranti International Signal Inc.
Davis, who formerly lived in Millersville, served on the Penn Manor school board for nine years and on the board of the Lancaster Municipal Airport Authority. He also served as POW consultant to the National Vietnam War Museum.
He received the Daughters of the American Revolution silver medal and Sons of the American Revolution gold medal.
He was a life member of American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association and the Fourth Allied POW Wing.
Davis also had been awarded the key to the city of Lancaster.
