11 brothers have combined 158 years of US military service
TUNICA, Miss. — The sons of Ben and Hattie Davis give special meaning to the term “band of brothers.”
Eleven in all, their combined 158 years of service to the U.S. military make them brothers in arms as well as brothers raised on a family farm in rural Alabama.
Seven of the 11 gathered in mid-july at a hotel and casino in Mississippi for a reunion thick with brotherly love and military pride. They laughed together, told stories from their days growing up and serving the country, and reminisced about what it was like to be black in the U.S. military in the 20th century in America.
But in the end, they talked less about racism than the lack of respect that they say all veterans feel from their fellow Americans.
“Being in the military, it was a fine thing,” said Lebronze Davis, who fought in the Vietnam War and has survived cancer and heart surgery. “We all think we’ve done an outstanding job.”
In 2017, the Davis men were honored by the National Infantry Museum Foundation. The names of the 11 brothers and their uncle are engraved on four paving stones installed at the museum.
“What these brothers did out of love for both family and country is nothing short of remarkable,” foundation President Pete Jones said in a prepared statement to The Associated Press. “Their sense of duty is unrivaled, and is the kind of spirit that makes our nation’s armed forces the greatest in the world.”
Sixteen siblings — the 11 veterans, plus three sisters and two brothers who did not enter the military — grew up on a 60-acre cotton farm in Wetumpka, Alabama, about a half-hour north of Montgomery. Their parents worked hard to put food on the table. Mom was the disciplinarian, and Dad had a softer approach.
“Their moral and ethical values were pristine,” said Arguster, the youngest at 67 years old.
When the boys graduated high school, it seemed natural to enter the military.
Military experience runs long in the Davis family. The brothers’ uncle, 99-year-old Master Sgt.