Macon Magazine

October/November 2025 | maconmagazine.com 55 ABOVE Davis Hollis, great nephew, Nicky Davis (daughter); Edgar Ray (nephew) and Regina Davis- Hollis (niece) RIGHT Davis siblings Robert Davis; Debra Ray and Gordon Davis. Photos courtesy of the Davis family. Honor our veterans at Macon's Veteran's Day Parade on Nov. 9 from 3-4:30 p.m. in Downtown Macon. decommissioned in 2015. A marker was dedicated to him in Macon's Rosa Parks Square, across from City Hall, in 2016. Academic scholarships honoring Rodney's name have also been established, with the first coming in 2012. Another Sgt. Rodney M. Davis Memorial Scholarship became available in 2022 through the Community Foundation of Central Georgia. It serves graduating seniors from Bibb County high schools who have been junior ROTC candidates. Students seeking professional certification, associate, or bachelor's degree are eligible to apply. Rodney's sister Debra Ray is glad her brother has received the recognition he deserves, but she is "hopeful some younger family members will take over" to ensure her big brother's legacy is continued. September 2024, paid for by Frederick W. Smith, founder and CEO of FedEx, who was also a Vietnam veteran. Family members included Rodney's oldest daughter Nicky, Debra's son Edgar Ray (an assistant principal at Veterans Elementary School in Macon), Rodney's niece Regina Davis-Hollis, John Hollis, and their son Davis Hollis, now 20, who is currently attending college in Australia s an exchange student from the University College of Dublin. On September 6, 57 years to the day that Rodney was killed, the group went by bus after acquiring maps of the Que Son Valley, and reached the exact spot of Rodney's demise. "It was a trip of a lifetime," said Regina. "It was both emotional and cathartic. I felt like I was standing in the middle, because my son said he was there to be supportive of me and his Aunt Nicky. It was unbelievable to be there in the land where my uncle lost his life." Regina, whose father Howard of the paper route story passed in 2021, is also very proud of her son, who became an unofficial spokesperson for the group, which included a dinner and interactions with many Vietnamese officials and news media. Nicky, a Bay Area bank executive, told Nashville reporter and Marine Reservist Josh Roe on the trip that although she barely remembers her father, she has learned about him from her mother Judy, who passed away in 2018. She was only 2 years old at the time, but still keeps a picture of the Medal of Honor ceremony. "It's the screensaver on my phone," she told Roe. Nicky's younger sister Samantha did not make the trip, but she, like many Davis family members, has made her mark in life. Samantha Steen is now a lawyer in South Florida. Her husband Daris Steen is a former Marine, like Rodney, and her three sons are gridiron giants. Her oldest, Tyler Steen, is an offensive lineman for the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles. He told ESPN in 2022 that his grandfather's legacy weighs on him now. "I honestly can't imagine it because he was close to my age when he was fighting in Vietnam and made that decision," he said. "To this day, I can't imagine what was going through his head. Obviously, it was a split-second decision and it really wasn't something he had to think about. It was something that was ingrained in him. I can't wrap my head around it, but it was incredible." Her middle son Blake Steen is also an offensive lineman who recently transferred to Mississippi State after beginning his studies at the University of Virginia. Her third son is a budding scholar athlete in high school. The courage and sacrifice made by Sgt. Rodney M. Davis has not gone unnoticed. A guided missile frigate ship, The USS Rodney. M. Davis was named for him in 1987 and served the Navy well until it was

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