James T. Davis (June 13, 1944-) was a US Marine Corps Sergeant who was a photographer for "Stars and Stripes" who fought in the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War in January 1968.
Biography[]
Davis was born in Mobile, Alabama in 1944. During his youth, James was a writer for his high school's newspaper and also has a relationship with a girl from his home named Vanessa before he was drafted in the United States Marine Corps in the fall of 1967.
Being a Hard Marine[]
Davis is sent to Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina to undergo eight-week recruit training and is given his signature nickname "Joker" on his first day of Platoon 3092. There he meets a recruit from Texas named Howard Evans who was nicknamed "Cowboy" and Leonard Lawrence, a dim-witted from Colorado, who was nicknamed "Gomer Pyle" named after an infamous character from the" Andy Griffin show". These recruits get off to a rough start with the senior drill instructor Gunnery Sergeant Ronald Hartman because he used extreme harsh methods to turn the recruits into Marines, but takes on the rough routine of shouting, beating and intense training.
Helping a recruit[]
Davis in 1967.
During the first weeks of basic training, he and Evans witness Lawrence trying the hardest of the platoon by doing the obstacles and performing in drill, but he continuously fails and is constantly abused by Hartman. The reason why was like the other recruits like Davis is physically fit compared to the more challenged Pyle, who is also not very bright. On the issue of their M-14 rifles for close order drills, Davis names his rifle after his girlfriend. On the fifth week of training, he was promoted as the squad leader of the platoon after being asked of believing in the Virgin Mary, he denies given he knows it was a trick question which angers Hartman and attacks Davis. During his time as a squad leader, he takes Lawrence under his wing, but even as it seems that he is improving the abuse continues stacking up by the D.I.s. Soon, the platoon starts to receive corrective training, Hartman discovered a jelly doughnut that Lawrence stole in the mess hall. Instead of punishing him, Hartman punished the entire platoon, this became the last straw as the platoon started to do a blanket party at the start of the seventh week of basic training, midnight. As the recruit's haze Lawrence with the blanket party, Davis too part of beating him with a towel-wrapped soap bar and continued to the point his own disappointment took over and becomes relentless rage. He immediately regrets it he notices the change in Lawrence from his improvement and his unusual silence. At first, Daivs, Evans and the rest of platoon feels he was in deep concentration. Then Davis begins to realize that Lawrence is no longer mentally stable after he witnesses him talking to his rifle who he named Charlene. This is unfortunately dismissed as a rumor.
Graduation Day[]
Davis teaches Lawarence how to drill properly
In December 1967, Platoon 3092 graduated from Parris Island, Davis and Lawrence was awarded the Rifle Expert badge and was promoted to Private First Class. Davis training orders come through and he is to attend the Infantry Training Regiment followed by the Basic Military Journalism School, becoming a combat correspondent. On December 25, 1967, Davis is assigned to fire watch on his last night at Parris Island and finds Lawrence in the bathroom (In the Marine Corps and US Navy term is called a "The Head") with his rifle and has armed it with a loaded magazine of live "Full Metal Jacket" rounds. He tries to calm the insane him and says if Hartman comes in and catches then, they both be in a world of shit. However, it results in Lawrence loudly proclaiming that he's already in a world of shit and starts doing rifle drills with his rifle drills and citing the "The Rifleman Creed", leading to everyone waking up. Hartman himself woke up and entered the head, and he asked Lawrence to put the gun down. He began to shout at Lawrence in his typical fashion before Lawrence shooting him in the chest killing him instantly. Lawrence aimed the rifle at Davis, but Davis asked him to go easy. Davis helplessly watched in horror as Lawrence shot himself in the head as he was sitting on a toilet seat.
Vietnam[]
During his time in Vietnam, Davis was first assigned to the US 1st Marine Division. By January 1968, he was promoted to Sergeant and has already less than two months of tour time in his duty of Vietnam. His works have been written for military magazines including "Stars and Stripes and Leatherneck" where he partnered up with a Marine named Lance Corporal Kevin "Rafter Man" Compton as his combat photographer.