Herman Davis

Born in Manila, Arkansas, Herman Davis was an United States infantry private and sniper during World War I.

He first achieved distinction by killing four German machine gunners, and thereby saving an entire American company. Later, he killed 47 enemy gunners in a single encounter, using sniping tactics he had learned hunting small game at home.

General Pershing named him fourth among the 100 greatest heroes of the war. He received the Distinguished Service Cross, the Croix de Guerre and the Médaille Militaire awards from the American and French governments. After the war, he went back home to continue farming, but died four years later of tuberculosis he had contracted on the front lines.

A monument in a one-acre state park in his hometown of Manila, Arkansas honors him.