Joseph Edward Davis, Jr

"He considered what he had to do and he did it," Davis' father recalled of the young man's decision to join the Marine Corps and fight in Viet Nam. Davis, the oldest of thirteen children, enlisted in the Marines in September 1967 after graduating from West Philadelphia Catholic High School. He wrote home frequently about the plight of Vietnamese children, and believed that by serving in Viet Nam he could make a difference in the children's future. The lance corporal had been on more than 10 combat missions as a rifleman and grenadier with Company E of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division. He had been wounded twice before dying in Quang Nam Province on November 3, 1968, as the result of wounds inflicted during an air strike by U.S. planes. Davis was 18 years old. Survivors included his father and several brothers and sisters."