Private Davis was a member of Headquarters Battery, 82nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery (Automatic Weapons) Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. On 9 July 1953, while wading in the Hantan-Chon River in North Korea, he was swept away by the current and drowned.

Davis was awarded the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.