World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseRudolph Bianco Davila was born in El Paso, Texas, United States in Apr 1916 to a Spanish father and a Filipino mother. His family moved to Watts, California, United States when he was a toddler. In Mar 1941, he enlisted in the US Army in Los Angeles, California.

ww2dbaseStaff Sergeant Davila was assigned to Company H of the 7th Infantry Regiment, US 3rd Infantry Division as of 28 May 1944. On that day, his company was fighting near Artena, Italy. He risked death to bring four machine gun crews to support a friendly rifle company being pinned down by hostile fire. When his machine gunners arrived to the site, for unknown reason, none of them set up their machine guns. Crawling fifty yards to his nearest machine gun crew, Davila set up the weapon on his own and opened fire. Realizing he needed to observe the effect of fire from this machine gun, he ordered a soldier to take over while he crawled to a vantage point, where he directed the fire with hand and arm signals. Finally having all four of his machine guns firing on the enemy, he was able to push the Germans back about 200 yards. Ignoring a bullet wound in his leg sustained during this action, he continued to push forward, jumping into the turret of a burned out tank to engage German soldiers in view. Observing that the Germans were using a nearby farm house for cover, he charged in and killed five soldiers inside. He then climbed into the farm house's attic, using that high position and favorable vantage point to destroy two German machine gun positions with his rifle and grenades. The remaining Germans fled. For that action, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in the field, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross medal.

ww2dbaseAfter Italy, Davila saw action in eastern France, where he was wounded in the chest, paralyzing his right arm. This wound brought him back to the United States. While being treated for this wound in Modesto, California, he met a nurse by the name of Harriet, who he courted and married. After the war, Davila obtained his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Southern California and became a high school history teacher in Los Angeles. They moved to Vista, California in 1977 after his retirement. In Jun 2000, his Distinguished Service Cross was upgraded to the Medal of Honor, the highest award of the US military. The medal was presented to him by US President Bill Clinton during a ceremony at the White House in Washington DC, United States. He passed away from cancer in Jan 2002. He was buried at the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, United States.

Rudolph Davila Interactive Map

Rudolph Davila Timeline