The Gun Counter

Retired Col. Joe M. Jackson, a 33-year Air Force veteran who served in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, and who received the Medal of Honor for action during the latter conflict, died Jan. 12, at the age of 95...

He went to Vietnam in 1967, flying the C-123 Provider with a Special Operations Squadron, building up to 298 combat missions.

On May 12, 1968, he volunteered to attempt the rescue of three airmen; a C-130 navigator and two combat controllers that had been left behind at Kham Duc, an airfield near the Laos border being used by Army Special Forces. It was about to fall to North Vietnamese regulars and Viet Cong, and was taking heavy ground fire from mortars, rockets, .50 cal. machine guns, and small arms fire.

The evacuation of troops from the airfield was largely complete, but the operation would claim seven aircraft lost to enemy fire, including a CH-47 wrecked halfway down the runway.

A previous C-123 attempting the rescue had nearly been shot down, as well. It had to leave because of low fuel, but was able to spot the three airmen needing evacuation. Jackson made an extremely steep approach to the field, evading heavy fire from the edge of the airfield, avoiding the wrecked helicopter and an unexploded rocket on the runway. He slowed to pick up the three men, escaping the field and returning to base without suffering any hits on his aircraft.

randy wrote: ↑Tue Jan 15, 2019 3:48 pm
My memory was that he was a very gracious guy with a sense of humor. Like most true heroes he emphasized he was doing his job and reserved high praise for his crew and the guys on the ground that had the "scary" job.

RIP