The Real Forrest Gump was in White County

A Vietnam veteran who is known as the real life Forrest Gump was the keynote speaker at this year’s White County, Indiana republican Lincoln Day Dinner held last week. Sammy L. Davis was a Sergeant first class at the time and producers of the film used his story for Gump’s Vietnam War time experience. Davis was given the Congressional Medal of Honor by President Lyndon Johnson for his bravery. He did single handedly save three seriously wounded soldiers as depicted in the movie while sustaining multiple injuries. But unlike the film, Davis did not drop his pants at the medal ceremony as Gump did in the movie, even though Davis was shot in the back and the buttocks. The film’s producers did use film of Davis getting the medal, but superimposed Tom Hanks’ face on top of Davis’s face.