Guns for Great Causes

Henry Repeating Arms presented three local veterans with their engraved Military Service Tribute Edition rifle, including Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient Sammy L. Davis (left), Johnathan Teagarden Sr. (middle), and his son Johnathan Teagarden Jr. (right). (Photo/Forrest MacCormack)

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind, Apr. 25, 2023 – Henry

President Andy Wickstrom had the distinct honor of presenting three Indiana native military veterans with specially engraved Henry Military Service Tribute Edition rifles as a token of gratitude for their service at the Indianapolis Convention Center ahead of the 152nd NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits.

Wickstrom also presented a $25,000 donation to the Eddie Eagle GunSafe® program, a firearm accident prevention program that seeks to help parents, law enforcement, and community leaders educate Pre-K through 4th-grade children about what to do if they come across a gun.

The first recipients called to the stage were Retired First Sergeant Johnathan Teagarden Jr., who served in the United States Army for more than twenty-five years with four tours in the Middle East, and his father Johnathan Teagarden Sr., who served in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War. The Teagarden family has a long history of answering the call of duty, with every generation serving in the military dating back to Teagarden Jr.’s great-great-grandfather, who fought as an Infantryman in the Civil War.

Following the Teagardens, Wickstrom called Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Sammy L. Davis to the stage. Davis was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1968 by President Lyndon B. Johnson for his unwavering courage and tenacity during battle and for saving the lives of at least three comrades despite a broken back and extensive injuries.

Henry Repeating Arms President Andy Wickstrom (right) and Henry Vice President of Communications Dan Clayton-Luce (middle) present a $25,000 donation for the Eddie Eagle GunSafe® program to Tyler Schropp (left), Executive Director of the NRA Office of Advancement.

“A hero in the truest sense of the word, a treasure of Indiana and America as a whole, I am humbled and honored to welcome Sammy Lee Davis to the Henry family with this Henry Military Service Tribute Edition rifle in salute to your selflessness and bravery,” said Wickstrom.

As the presentation concluded, Davis took the microphone. First, he told the crowd a moving story about a harmonica his mother sent him while overseas and how he could comfort those around him by playing the song “Shenandoah.” Then, completely unprompted, Davis pulled out a harmonica to recite the song, bringing the crowd to its feet with tears in their eyes.