Small army finds missing medal in White River
A 40-person team recovers hero's stolen Medal of Honor; award will be returned to him in a ceremony Thursday.
Cherished possession: Vietnam veteran Sammy L. Davis has kept his Medal of Honor close since receiving it in 1968. -- Tom Spalding / The Star
By Tom Spalding
tom.spalding@indystar.com
Ron Gray cradled the Medal of Honor as if protecting an egg.
He was letting TV cameras film the memento in its display case Monday when a cameraman tried to pick it up to hand it back.
"No, no, no," Gray shooed him away, grabbing the case.
Gray, an Indianapolis police detective, led a 40-person team that found the medal Monday, four days after it was reported stolen.
That was good news for Sammy L. Davis, who had won the nation's highest military honor for service during the Vietnam War.
"They've done an awesome job," Davis, speaking from his home in Flat Rock, Ill., said of investigators. "Every one of them told me, 'Sam, we're not gonna quit until we find it.' "
Several local agencies and the FBI were part of the recovery team. Officials would not release a suspect's identity or discuss how or where the medal was found.
But public safety workers and others close to the case who asked not to be identified said Indianapolis Fire Department divers found the medal in White River near Harding Street on the Southside.
IPD Sgt. Judy Phillips said an Indianapolis man is being questioned and has been in custody since Saturday. He declined to talk to a reporter.
The medal was taken from the trunk of Davis' car at a hotel where the retired Army sergeant was speaking. It will be returned in an Indianapolis ceremony Thursday.
Davis, 58, said he believes a thief's conscience and his personal plea led to the medal being discarded where it could be found.
Call Star reporter Tom Spalding at (317) 444-2761.