CAPTAIN CHARLES RUSSELL DAVIS, USN MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP ESTABLISHED

Panola College is proud to announce the creation of the Captain Charles Russell Davis, USN Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship was established by Mrs. Lelia H. Davis to honor the memory of her late husband, Charles Russell Davis. Capt. Davis, a native of Clayton, Texas had an incredible life and a distinguished military career.

In 1941, Davis left law school at the University of Texas and served in the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover from 1942 to 1943. He then enrolled in Officers Candidate School at Hampton-Sidney College where he met his lovely wife of 53 years, Lelia Holloway of Purdy, Virginia. She was attending Longwood, a nearby girl’s college.

During WWII, Davis became one of the navy’s first underwater demolition team officers.  After training in Coronado, California he was assigned to the USS Montrose from 1944 to 1946. He led UDT teams through the most desperate fighting of the Pacific Island War, including the Okinawa landings and the landings in the battle of Leyte Gulf, where they made raider landings onto the beaches in speedboats.

In 1946, Davis trained as a surface warfare officer in Newport before serving in turn as navigator, gunner, and operations officer on the USS Dyess, DDR 880. Davis was aboard the Dyess when it escorted President Truman and the USS Missouri on a diplomatic mission to South America.

A decorated hero, Davis was chosen by the navy to attend George Washington University School of Law, where he earned his L.L.B. in 1952. Following graduation he served as operations officer aboard the vessels, USS Roanoke, USS Pittsburg and the USS North Hampton. In 1954, Davis took command of the USS Valor, an ocean-going minesweeper.

Captain Davis rose quickly through the JAG corps ranks. In 1962, Captain Davis was called upon to quell the Cuban Missile Crisis. He also handled many sensitive issues surrounding the tragic loss of the nuclear powered submarine, USS Thresher, and all of its crew.

During his career, he commanded the Sixth Fleet Legal Department, based in Naples Italy and was Command Chief Judge Advocate of the Southwestern Region based at Corpus Christi from 1970 through 1973. He then served at the Pentagon as Chief Legal Advisor to Admiral Bagley, Chief of Navel Personnel, until 1975, at which time he retired and returned to Corpus Christi, Texas in 1976.

Davis devoted his life to his family, to assisting members of military and Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA) civilian aide’s families, by providing them with free legal advice and comfort, and to the conservation and preservation of the virgin pine forest on his family farm in Clayton, Texas.

Captain Davis is survived by his wife, Lelia; a son, Charles S. Davis Esq., Clayton, Texas; and three daughters, Dr. Joyce Davis, Naples, Italy; Jeanne Davis Wylie, Orlando, Florida; and Dr. Nancy Davis Sargent, DDS., Portland, Maine.

The Captain Charles Russell Davis, USN Memorial Scholarship will be awarded annually to a student majoring in drama.  The selection and announcement naming the recipient will be made in the spring each year.   Applicants should contact Van Patterson, Director of Institutional Advancement at Panola College, 903-693-2029.