This Military Service Page was created/owned by
MAJ Mark E Cooper
to remember
Davis, Fred E., Sr., SGM.
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Contact Info
Last Address Fayetteville, NC
Date of Passing Sep 21, 1995
Location of Interment Cumberland Memorial Gardens - Fayetteville, North Carolina
RANGER HALL OF FAME
1994
Sergeant Major Davis distinguished himself throughout his 33-year Army career while serving in combat during three wars in Ranger and Special Operations assignments. Always a volunteer, Sergeant Major Davis served with distinction during World War II as a member of the 3rd Ranger Battalion. While engaged in heavy fighting on the Anzio Beachhead in Italy, he was wounded and subsequently captured by enemy forces. After numerous attempts, Sergeant Major Davis successfully escaped from his German Captors and made his way to Allied Lines. In 1950 during the Korean War, a call for Ranger Volunteers was again issued and Sergeant Major Davis rose to the challenge and joined the 3rd Airborne Ranger Company. After heavy fighting at the battle for "Bloody Nose Ridge", he was recognized for his superior leadership ability and awarded a battlefield commission. Following deactivation of the Airborne Ranger Companies in Korea at the start of Armistice Talks, he served with the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team and then volunteered to return to Korea and participate in extensive Ranger-related Unconventional Warfare activities. These operations served as forerunners for the establishment of Special Warfare Schools and later Special Forces units. After reverting to enlisted rank Sergeant Major Davis served several tours in Vietnam as both A and B Team leaders. Sergeant Major Davis' long and distinguished career reflects great credit on himself, past and present Ranger units, and the military service.
1950-1951, 1542, 3rd Ranger Infantry Company (Airborne)
The 3rd Ranger Infantry Company (Airborne) was a Ranger light infantry company of the United States Army active during the Korean War. As a small special forces unit, it specialized in irregular warfare.
Formed in the fall of 1950, the 3rd Ranger Company was used for several months as a cadre of training staff for the Ranger Training Center at Fort Benning, Georgia. The company deployed to South Korea in March 1951 and was assigned to the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division for four months, where it was used as a reconnaissance and scouting unit, probing North Korean People's Volunteer Army positions. The company is known for its "Battle of Bloody Ridge" on 11 April where it stumbled into a Chinese ambush on its first mission, but was able to push the opposing force back. The company later supported the 3rd Infantry Division at the Battle of the Imjin River.
Later in the summer, the company was used as a stealth "target acquisition" force, infiltrating Chinese positions and spotting concentrations of troops and equipment for artillery attack. The company was deactivated on 1 August 1951, and was merged with the U.S. 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team alongside all other Ranger units.