Vet whose Medal of Honor ceremony was used in 'Forrest Gump' tells of PTSD struggles
World-Herald staff writer
By Steve Liewer
January 28, 2014
CHRIS MACHIAN/THE WORLD-HERALD
Sammy L. Davis and his wife, Dixie, said they still feel the effects of the trauma of Sammy Davis' service in Vietnam more than 45 years ago. He is still tormented by nightmares. “I fight that battle almost every night,” he said. “It doesn't go away.”
The man in the military dress uniform blew a mournful “Shenandoah” on his harmonica, his audience in a ballroom at the CenturyLink Center still and silent.
Sammy L. Davis, a Medal of Honor recipient, learned to play the song as a young Army private in Vietnam for a sergeant in his unit who loved the river and the song. The sergeant told Davis it “renewed his heart.”
Years later, he would start a tradition of playing the tune at the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. — in front of the spot on Panel 50E, Row 13, where the sergeant's name, Johnston Dunlop, is etched on the wall.
“I hope it finds a place in your heart and renews your soul,” Davis told the crowd of 540, who had gathered to hear him speak at a $50-a-plate fundraiser for At Ease USA, an Omaha-based veterans support group.
They gave him a standing ovation.
At Ease USA started in 2007, when a group of volunteers organized to aid both veterans and families suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Since then, the group has opened counseling centers in Bellevue, Grand Island and North Platte.
“From a neighbor's basement, to the farthest corners of the state, there are veterans who need our help,” said Tim Burke, the group's president.
It also is funding research on PTSD treatment at Creighton University, in partnership with Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska.
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AT EASE USA CLINICS
730 N. Fort Crook Road
Bellevue, NE 68005
402-292-9105
AtEase@lfsneb.org
Great Western Bank Building
1811 W. Second St., Suite 365
Grand Island, NE 68803
308-382-4255
Clifford L. Johnson Center for Healthy Families
120 E. 12th St.
North Platte, NE 69101
308-532-0653
Sammy talks about what it was like coming home after being wounded and earning the Medal of Honor
Sammy and Dixie have message to all veterans and their families
Sammy talks about his experience in Vietnam and why he plays Shenandoah
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