Saturday Matinee: Medal of Honor

Summary

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History Daily – Saturday Matinee: Medal of Honor

Episode Date: May 23, 2026
Host: J.R. Martinez (featuring content from the Medal of Honor podcast)
Feature Story: James Fleming, Vietnam War helicopter pilot and Medal of Honor recipient

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Overview

In this special episode for Memorial Day, History Daily explores the origins of the holiday and commemorates American military sacrifice by presenting the “Medal of Honor” podcast’s gripping retelling of James Fleming’s heroic 1968 rescue mission in Vietnam. The narrative, voiced by host J.R. Martinez—himself an Army veteran—illuminates Fleming's unwavering courage, sense of duty, and commitment to the principle of leaving no man behind.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Origins of Memorial Day (00:23–02:19)

• Early commemorations after the Civil War; confusion over where the holiday began—Charleston, SC (by freed Black residents) vs. Waterloo, NY.
• It began as "Decoration Day" and only became a federal holiday in the late 20th century.
• Regardless of its origins, the focus is on honoring real sacrifices by American service members.

Quote:

“What is clear are the real sacrifices made by the men and women in service to our country.” — Memorial Day Narrator (01:51)

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2. Introduction to James Fleming and the Medal of Honor (04:29–09:02)

• Context: The Medal of Honor as the military’s highest decoration.
• Brief profile: Fleming—a young Air Force pilot, new to command, motivated by a promise to protect and rescue his fellow service members.
• The Vietnam War era: covert "Studies and Observations Group" (SOG) missions to disrupt enemy supply chains across the Cambodia border.
• The “Green Hornets”—the helicopter squadron responsible for insertions and extractions.

Insight:
Fleming deeply internalized the ethos of “no man left behind,” treating the concept as both duty and personal honor.

Quote:

“It's something he feels deep in his bones. The importance of staying true to your word, being there, showing up. And that's why this story really stuck with me.” — J.R. Martinez (08:30)

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3. Jim Fleming’s Early Life and Path to the Air Force (09:02–10:42)

• Childhood in Sedalia, Missouri; his father left, mother worked hard to support Jim and his brother.
• Step-father, John Fleming, an Air Force pilot, became his role model and inspiration for a career in aviation.
• Jim always wanted to fly, joining the Air Force as soon as possible.

Quote:

“My father was the driving force behind everything I did. ...I didn’t want to work for a living, and I always wanted to be a pilot in the Air Force. I never wanted to be anything else.” — Jim Fleming (09:56)

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4. Deployment to Vietnam and Early Experiences (10:13–11:41)

• Volunteered for Vietnam, excited and eager for combat—a sentiment not shared by his wife.
• Reality set in upon arrival: the war zone's intensity and the harshness of jungle survival training.

Memorable Moment:

“A tear comes out of my eye and down my nose. And I said to myself, ‘damn, only 364 more of these to go before I get out.’ I already knew I didn’t like it there.” — Jim Fleming (10:50)

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5. Explaining the SOG Mission and the Green Hornets’ Role (11:41–15:46)

• SOG teams: elite, covert operations inserting Green Berets (including American and Montagnard mercenaries) along the Cambodia-South Vietnam border.
• The Green Hornets operated “slicks”—troop transport helicopters (Hueys) stripped for speed and capacity.

Team Bonding Ritual (before every mission):
“You would brief and you would shake hands and hug the team members and the crew members... What you’re doing is you’re saying, ‘I’m going to take you and I’m going to put you out in the middle of hell. If you have to come home, I’ll bring you home. That’s my duty. It’s my honor. I will do that for you.’” — Jim Fleming (14:36)

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6. The 1968 Rescue Mission Unfolds (15:46–28:20)

The Ambush and Mayday (16:19–17:03)

• SOG team quickly surrounded after insertion; monkeys in jungle add to chaos by alerting enemy.
• Radio call for extraction: "Tango 51 contact. Need extraction."

The Air Rescue Attempts and Escalation (19:05–21:43)

• Enemy forces pin SOG team against the river—no escape except by air.
• Gunships and other slicks quickly disabled or driven off by enemy fire; only Fleming’s chopper remains operational.
• Fleming offers to attempt the dangerous extraction despite low fuel and overwhelming enemy presence.

Key Quote:

“I bet you I can get in there and get him. I’m the only one here. Get me low way out, throw me in there. I bet you I can sneak in there and get him.” — Jim Fleming (21:15)

First Attempt Fails (22:10–22:36)

• Jim’s approach is repelled by gunfire; his team is ordered to abort.

Final Chance and Daring Hover (23:34–27:52)

• Jim resolves to try again—despite dusk setting in, depleted ammo, and soaring risk.
• Gunship pilot Leonard Gonzalez promises covering fire: “I’ll go over them one more time. I’ll give them everything I got, and I gotta go home. ...See you at home, Jim.” (24:07–24:21)
• Fleming balances his Huey on the riverbank, blades inches from the water, holding steady as his crew pulls SOG members onboard, one by one—under relentless enemy fire.

Memorable Moment:

“Fred Cook, God bless him, I hear him go, ‘hold your hover. Hold your hover. I got one.’ ...He’s leaning down and grabbing these guys and jerking them in, scrambling them in.” — Jim Fleming (25:34)

The Last Man Aboard (27:06–27:52)

• Colonel Randy Harrison—the team commander and last Green Beret—waits to cover his men, then sprints and leaps for the chopper, missing the skid but being dragged aboard by the door gunner as bullets hit the windshield and fuel is nearly gone.

“Randy took about four steps and jumped in the water...got his arm over the skid. And Fred Cook reaches down and grabs him by the rucksack and yells, ‘let’s go.’ And we dragged him through the water and off we went.” — Jim Fleming (27:06)

Zero Casualties

• Not a single man was wounded or left behind. Fleming's helicopter, though battered, brings them all home.

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7. Aftermath and Legacy (30:00–34:16)

• Fleming wounded later in the war, recuperates, then learns he’s nominated for the Medal of Honor.
• Receives the Medal from President Nixon in a tense Washington, D.C., just days after the Kent State shootings.
• Reflects on the countless unrecognized acts of valor by other helicopter pilots.
• Teaches at Air Force Officer Training School before retiring as a Colonel, decorated with numerous medals.

Quote:

“How many helicopter pilots did what I did and got shot down and died? No one saw it. Hundreds. I know that.” — Jim Fleming (32:21)

The Ethos of Camaraderie and Duty

“I never picked up an American in combat that did not, when he got to the helicopter, turn around and put his hand out to the next guy. Never. ...That's who we are.” — Jim Fleming (33:25)

The Power of Keeping Promises

“That was my duty, my honor. My job was to take these soldiers into enemy territory, to drop them off, to let them do their mission and go back and bring them home.” — Jim Fleming (33:58)

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8. Epilogue – Reflections from Randy Harrison (34:54–36:44)

In a moving segment, Randy Harrison, the last man aboard, reflects on his rescue using words from the spiritual "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," comparing the approaching Huey to angels coming to carry him home:

Quote:

“But I’ll tell you what, if it happens again, I’m going to know it before I see it because I’ve heard the sound of angels’ wings before. They sound like a, uh, one 10ft off the deck coming in at full speed to carry me home. Home to a completed college education, home to...marriage and home to children, two sons that I would never have known were it not for the Green Hornets on that day in that terrible, terrible place.” — Randy Harrison (34:54)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (w/ Timestamps)

• J.R. Martinez on Fleming’s sense of responsibility:
  • “For Jim, that responsibility isn’t a burden. It’s an honor. The kind of honor that would lead him straight into a death trap.” (08:35)
• Jim Fleming on team bonding before the mission:
  • “I’m going to take you and I’m going to put you out in the middle of hell. If you have to come home, I’ll bring you home. That’s my duty. It’s my honor.” (14:36)
• Randy Harrison’s emotional thanks:
  • “I’ve heard the sound of angels wings before. They sound like a, uh, one 10ft off the deck coming in at full speed to carry me home.” (34:54)
• Fleming on the foundation of teamwork:
  • “That’s who we are. ...Never picked up an American in combat that did not...turn around and put his hand out to the next guy.” (33:25)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Origins of Memorial Day: 00:23–02:19
• James Fleming profile/beginning of Medal of Honor story: 04:29–09:02
• Fleming’s childhood & inspiration: 09:02–10:42
• Vietnam arrival & training: 10:42–11:41
• Overview of the SOG mission, team ritual: 11:41–15:46
• Rescue mission setup: 15:46–19:05
• Ambush & first rescue attempts: 19:05–22:36
• Final daring rescue: 23:34–28:20
• Aftermath, Medal of Honor, legacy: 30:00–34:16
• Randy Harrison’s reflection: 34:54–36:44

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Tone & Style

The episode blends journalistic clarity with emotional resonance, mixing richly detailed battle narrative, firsthand recollections, and philosophical meditations on duty, courage, and camaraderie. Martinez’s tone is simultaneously reverential and relatable—grounding the heroism of Medal of Honor stories in the universal challenge of showing up for others.

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Final Reflections

This episode underscores that extraordinary acts of courage are rooted in ordinary promises—dutifully kept, no matter the peril. Through the lens of Jim Fleming’s Vietnam rescue, the show honors the enduring values at the heart of Memorial Day: remembrance, sacrifice, and the bonds that tie Americans together in the crucible of war and peace alike.

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Transcript

[J.R. Martinez]

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[Memorial Day Narrator]

Thank you for your service. This coming Monday is Memorial Day in the United States, and there are several stories of how it came to be. Many of them seem seemingly spontaneous ceremonies to remember the fallen soldiers of the Civil War. Originally, the holiday was Decoration Day, named after the tradition of laying wreaths and flowers on the graves of veterans. There's strong evidence that the first Memorial Day was started by newly freed black residents of Charleston, South Carolina, celebrating the end of the Civil War and honoring its terrible cost less than a month after the Confederacy's surrender. But in 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a proclamation recognizing Waterloo, New York as the birthplace of Memorial Day. This town claims it first celebrated Memorial Day on May 5, 1866. Shops and businesses closed, flags were flown at half mast, and the graves of the war dead were decorated with flowers. But even this story is suspect. Historians have pointed out that it was probably 1868, not 1866, and the inspiration for the event was likely an earlier remembrance ceremony one of the organizers saw somewhere in south, maybe even Charleston. But no matter where it started, it wasn't a federal holiday until 1968. Or 1971, actually, when the 68 law took effect. So it's all muddy is what I'm trying to say. What is clear are the real sacrifices made by the men and women in service to our country. And on today's Saturday matinee, we're bringing you the story of one of them from the podcast Medal of Honor, this time highlighting James Fleming, a Vietnam helicopter pilot who flew while dangerously low on fuel, disregarding his own safety to bring home some stranded soldiers. I hope you enjoy. While you're listening, be sure to search for and follow Medal of Honor. We put a link in the show notes to make it easy for you.

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[Medal of Honor Season Narrator]

This July 4th marks the 250th anniversary of America. 250 years of rebellion and innovation, of struggle and survival, of liberty and courage and sacrifice. As many times over the past quarter millennium, our American experiment looked like it could fall apart at the seams. When you look closely at those moments, though, it wasn't politicians who held us together. It was ordinary people. People who spoke up, who protested, who fought. Regular people in times of great strife grabbed at the frayed fabric of this country and pulled it together. In this season of Medal of Honor, as America celebrates its semiquincentennial, we're telling the stories of some of those people. Because bravery is in all of us and because the same qualities that carried us through the first 250 years, courage, honor and loyalty, will help us endure the next 250. This is season three of medal of Stories of Courage. Thank you for listening.

[J.R. Martinez]

The helicopter made its way up the river. The rotor blade was humming against the sky. There was thick jungle on both sides of the riverbank, bright green against the rushing brown water. It was November 26, 1968, and that river separated Cambodia from South Vietnam. The pilot of the chopper followed its path, heading towards the sound of gunfire, towards the battle. The mission had started with five helicopters, but three of them were already gone. The pilot of this one was 25 year old James Fleming. He could see a downed chopper burning on the riverbank. He knew exactly how dangerous the situation was. And as he got closer, shots started coming at him from both sides of the river. The noise of gunfire crackled through the jungle. The enemy was everywhere. He was supposed to touch down in the middle of this mess. But even if he could get to the riverside without being shot, he knew there wasn't enough space for him to land. But Jim Fleming also knew something else. There were seven soldiers down in that jungle who were about to be captured or killed by the North Vietnamese Army. They had fought their way to the riverbank and Jim was their only chance to get out of there alive. Jim remembered what he told those same guys just a few hours earlier when he dropped them there. He had told them he would put them in, but he would also get them out. Jim looked at his fuel gauge and it was almost empty. He looked at the terrain. Impossible. And then he banked his helicopter and started in. I'm JR Martinez and this is Medal of Stories of Courage. The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration in the United States. It's awarded for gallantry and bravery in combat at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. Each candidate must be approved all the way up the chain of command from the supervisory officer in the field to the White House. This show is about those heroes, what they did, what it meant, and what their stories tell us about the nature of courage and sacrifice. I'm an army veteran and in the military we talk a lot about no man left behind, you know, the concept that troops will do anything to protect each other from harm. But the guy you'll meet in this episode, Jim Fleming, doesn't just see that as a concept, he sees it as a responsibility, something we owe each other. It's something he feels deep in his bones. The importance of staying true to your word, being there, showing up. And that's why this story really stuck with me. It makes me think about the way we show up in our own lives. Because for Jim, that responsibility isn't a burden, it's an honor. The kind of honor that would lead him straight into a death trap. When Jim Fleming tells the story of his life, he begins with the moment he was left behind.

[Jim Fleming]

I was born in sedalia, Missouri on the 12th of March, 1943. My mother, we were abandoned by my father right after my brother was born. He was born in 44 and she was a single mother working in a town and country. Combat boot, shoe Factory in Sedala, Missouri.

[J.R. Martinez]

Jim's mom met John Fleming, an Air Force pilot stationed nearby. They started dating, and before John left that base for California, he asked her to marry him.

[Jim Fleming]

They got married in Las Vegas. He came back and took my brother and myself and her to California.

[J.R. Martinez]

John Fleming taught Jim two things. First, what it means to have a dad, an all in, fully committed father. Second, he taught Jim how to love the Air Force. John was a career pilot. He served during World War II, Korea, and even the early years of Vietnam.

[Jim Fleming]

My father was the driving force behind everything I did. He was my hero. I really looked up to him. I didn't want to work for a living, and I always wanted to be a pilot in the Air Force. I. I never wanted to be anything else.

[J.R. Martinez]

Halfway through his pilot training, Jim volunteered to go to Vietnam. By that time, the war had been going on for more than a decade. Jim was married. He had two little girls at home. But he couldn't wait to get into combat and serve his country.

[Jim Fleming]

I was terribly excited to go. If you talk to my wife, she'll probably tell you that I was apprehensive that it would be over by the time I got there. I wanted to go and fly in war.

[J.R. Martinez]

But Vietnam wasn't exactly what he'd imagined. Jim remembers how it felt when he arrived in 1968.

[Jim Fleming]

As we get off, the flares are going off around. You can see artillery going off over here. And it was just no question in your mind. You're somewhere you've never been before. We probably got there at midnight and got in our barracks probably four in the morning or whatever, to get a couple hours of sleep. And I remember turning over and a tear comes out of my eye and down my nose. And I said to myself, damn, only 364 more of these to go before I get out. You know, Already knew I didn't like it there.

[J.R. Martinez]

Jim did three days of jungle survival training, you know, just in case a chopper went down. It scared the hell out of him.

[Jim Fleming]

I didn't like that at all. It taught me I did not want to go down and have to walk home.

[J.R. Martinez]

But dropping people into the jungle was what Jim was in Vietnam to do. Okay, here's the deal. The North Vietnamese Army, NVA for short, needed to supply their forces fighting in South Vietnam. So they built a supply line through two neutral countries, Laos and Cambodia. The Americans call it the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The US wanted to stop that flow of supplies, but they couldn't officially be in either of those countries. So they secretly sent in small teams of Green Berets. They were the Studies and Observations Group, or SOG for short. It was totally covert ops. Those SOG teams were inserted by Air Force pilots from the 20th Special Operations Squadron, otherwise known as the Green Hornets. They flew, uh, one helicopters. In the military, we call them Hueys. You know, this kind of helicopter, you've seen it in every single movie about Vietnam. Jim was one of those Green Hornets. And on the morning of November 26, 1968, he got ready for a drop.

[Jim Fleming]

The first mission of the day was to insert a seven man Special Forces team. Three Americans and four mercenaries.

[J.R. Martinez]

Those mercenaries were referred to as Montagnards. They were members of a tribe from the highlands of Vietnam. Montagnards were a key part of any SOG team because they were not only seasoned soldiers, but also expert local guides and translators. So this SOG team was going to be dropped right at the border of Cambodia and Vietnam. Their target was the Thanl Son River. They suspected it was a route for the nva. SOG had already tried to get there twice before, but each attempt had ended in a scramble to pull the team out under heavy weapons fire from the enemy. But they needed the intel, so back they went. The team would be taken to their mission by a convoy of five helicopters, two gunships and three slicks. Jim flew a slick, which was essentially a bus.

[Jim Fleming]

Take the guns out, take the rockets off, open up the cab, and it's completely empty. You carry troops. It was a slick.

[J.R. Martinez]

A slick's only job was to bring guys in or pick them up. Each slick had a pilot, a co pilot and two gunners, one at each door. The convoy always traveled as a unit. It was safer that way. Plus there was a forward air controller plane, what the guys called a fac. The choppers didn't have much navigation, so the FAC had to lead them in and out. The SAW guys and the Green Hornets gathered on the Runway the way they did before every mission.

[Jim Fleming]

Before you took off, you would brief and you would shake hands and hug the team members and the crew members. Not a lot talking going on. And what's going on here is what you see in football. When men stand around and hold hands, these big guys hold hands. There's a bonding going on there. What you're doing is you're saying, I'm going to take you and I'm going to put you out in the middle of hell. If you have to come home, I'll bring you home. That's my duty. It's my honor. I will do that for you.

[J.R. Martinez]

It seems simple enough to Jim. You make a promise and you keep it. But this was Jim's second day as an aircraft commander. He was a lieutenant, way younger than the other pilots, less seasoned. He didn't know that it wasn't going to be so easy. The FAC left first, then the Hueys. They headed towards the drop location. When they got close, the choppers split up. To evade detection.

[Jim Fleming]

We send five helicopters, and one of them peels off, and then another one peels off, and if anyone's watching or listening, they don't know who lands. So we did that, and I put the team in.

[J.R. Martinez]

After the SAW group was on the ground, the Green Hornets met up at a refueling stop. They kicked back and waited to hear how the mission was going.

[Jim Fleming]

We're sitting around listening to rock and roll from Armed Forces Radio and eating C rations and smoking cigars and, you know, setting alert out in the middle of this miserable little place.

[J.R. Martinez]

After Jim dropped them, the seven members of the SOG team moved into the jungle. The trees were so tall and so dense that the canopy totally covered them, and that was dangerous, too. Those trees were filled with monkeys ready to scream and tip off the enemy to their location. The men would have made their way towards the river, setting up a perimeter of claymore mines for safety. But then, out of nowhere, a huge enemy force was on them. Suddenly, the jungle was blazing with gunfire. Monkeys screaming, bullets zipping past the trees. The SOG team knew how outnumbered they were. They had to get out now.

[Jim Fleming]

The radio operator with them keyed the mic and said, Tango 51 contact need extraction. As soon as that happens, we get it. We're on our way.

[J.R. Martinez]

The pilots scrambled to their choppers and took to the air.

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[Jim Fleming]

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[J.R. Martinez]

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[Jim Fleming]

Now they're after them, and they chased him all the way to a riverbank, this large river which is the border between Cambodia and Vietnam. And they can't get across the river, it's too wide. So they're now with their backs to the river, set up a defensive position, put claymore mines out, and they're fighting off these people that are starting to come in on them.

[J.R. Martinez]

The forward air controller got to the area first, but he couldn't find the men. The jungle canopy was just too dense.

[Jim Fleming]

The FAC has identified where he thinks they are because they're moving. He knows they're on the river, but exactly where he can't really tell.

[J.R. Martinez]

Then came the helicopters, two gunships and three slicks.

[Jim Fleming]

The first guys to get there are the gunships. What do gunships like to do more than they like to do anything else? Rock and roll.

[J.R. Martinez]

They were blazing gunfire and rockets towards the enemy, which was both helpful and not because it created a totally new problem. Before, the Salk team had just been facing the men in front of them, the ones who had chased them to the river. But after a few gunship passes, an even larger group of enemies knew they were there. They suddenly began taking fire from across the river. It was coming from six enemy machine guns hidden over there. So now they had nowhere to hide. The gunships knocked out two of the machine gun positions, but then they hit the first gunship.

[Jim Fleming]

He starts trailing blue smoke and he yells, I'm hit. I'm hit. I'm going down. He turns back, goes across the river, and crash lands.

[J.R. Martinez]

One of the slicks spiraled down and landed next to the gunship. Their job was to rescue that crew and take them to safety immediately.

[Jim Fleming]

They Go home. They can't help anybody, so they're going home.

[J.R. Martinez]

Only three of the five helicopters were left. Everyone on the ground, the enemy and the special forces men had seen the crash. And they watched as yet another slick flew off. Engine trouble, low fuel. So now just two helicopters left.

[Jim Fleming]

The second gunship, Leonard Gonzalez, goes across the team and takes battle damage and starts trailing blue smoke. So while this is going on, the Ford air controller is talking to me and he said, damn, what are we gonna do? I said, well, I'll tell you what, this is really a lot of chaos. I bet you I can get in there and get him. I'm the only one here. Get me low way out, throw me in there. I bet you I can sneak in there and get him.

[J.R. Martinez]

Jim knew what kind of danger was waiting for him on the ground. But he and his crew of three other guys were in total agreement. They had to try.

[Jim Fleming]

So he puts me low way out to go down the river and come back around. So I hit that riverbank and my right door gunner starts shooting. He says, go right, go right. And I'm starting to go down the river looking for him and going right, going right, sort of backing up, actually going down the river.

[J.R. Martinez]

The chopper was skimming over the water, flying through the bullets. His door gunners and co pilot were returned fire and searched for the team. The SOG team saw Jim's chopper come in. But as they started to move towards it, the wood line in front of them erupted with gunfire. There was no way for the men to make it to Jim.

[Jim Fleming]

The radio operator says, get out, get out. They got us. Get out.

[J.R. Martinez]

Jim got out as fast as he could. He moved up and away to safety. But here's the thing. Jim had made the man on the ground a promise. A promise to come back. Remember, no man left behind. And now he and the rest of his crew had to decide if that was a promise they could keep. Daylight was fading, and down on the ground the gunfire was so thick you could practically walk on it. Jim was desperately low on fuel and ammo. The last remaining gunship with Gonzalez was still trailing smoke. Jim called out to him.

[Jim Fleming]

He says, we've got some dam. He says, I gotta take this home or we're gonna live out here.

[J.R. Martinez]

We're gonna live out here in the jungle. Remember, this is Jim's worst nightmare. But his mind flashed back to the men on the ground. They had to get them out before dark if they were going to get them out at all.

[Jim Fleming]

I put the nose down, go down the river, and as I come up and I look over. There are people everywhere. The enemy is now focused in where they are. They found them because they saw me. So the enemy is starting to go in. And I tell the fact. Bring me in one more time. I know where they are now. Bring me in one more time. As I say that, Leonard Gonzales says, you going back in? Said, I'm going to try it one more time. He said, I'll tell you what. He says, follow me. I'll go over them one more time. I'll give him everything I got, and I gotta go home.

[J.R. Martinez]

Gonzalez hit the enemy with a final blazing pass.

[Jim Fleming]

He goes over him, and he rock and rolls. He shoots all his rockets. They give him everything they got. And he says, see you at home, Jim. And he takes off.

[J.R. Martinez]

Jim's chopper was the only one left. He started back down the river. One of his two gunners, Fred Cook, was hanging out the door, scanning for the team on the ground.

[Jim Fleming]

And as we get further down, we're starting to take some pretty good damage. And Fred is shooting and yelling and go right, go right.

[J.R. Martinez]

Stop.

[Jim Fleming]

Stop. I got him. They had made it down to the riverbank, and they were half in the water in the reeds, this sort of underbrush. And the blades had blown those reeds, and we found them.

[J.R. Martinez]

Jim knew there was nowhere big enough for him to land. But if he hovered just above the water with his landing skids against the riverbank, the team might be able to make it to the chopper. It would be a balancing act that required some truly insane piloting skills. And it would only work if, by some miracle, his helicopter wasn't hit and disabled altogether. Jim hovered the, uh one against the riverbank, his tail, boom, hanging just above the water, and he waited for the SAW team. They spotted him and raced forward. But as they did, two NVA burst out of the reeds and opened fire. The men shot back, and they kept on running.

[Jim Fleming]

So I'm hovering over the water as close as I can get to the bank, and Fred Cook, God bless him, I hear him go, hold your hover. Hold your hover. I got one. And what he's doing is he's leaning down and grabbing these guys and jerking them in, scrambling them in.

[J.R. Martinez]

The chopper was taking fire from all sides now, but Jim just kept hanging in there as calmly as a mom in the school pickup line. Bullets snapped through the windshield. They had four men on the chopper, then five, then six.

[Jim Fleming]

And I'm looking around, and I see people darting up and just sort of jumping up and down, up and down. And shooting. And there are seven of them out there. We only got six. Now I'm thinking, gosh, maybe they got one of them. I've got enough.

[J.R. Martinez]

He had enough men, but he didn't have all of them. And for Jim, was six really enough? The bullets were getting closer now. He knew they were seconds, not minutes away from all of them going up in flames.

[Jim Fleming]

We got to get out of here. Sooner or later they're going to get us. Round's going to hit me or it's going to hit the engine.

[J.R. Martinez]

Where was the seventh guy? Jim knew who he was. Randy Harrison, the commanding officer of this group of green berets. He had volunteered to go on this mission. Jim wanted to wait for him, but he knew he was pushing his luck too far. He looked over his shoulder one last

[Jim Fleming]

time and as I look over, Randy Harrison jumps up. He's a fair haired guy and he's all painted up and he's got a bandana on because he wore a bandana over his light hair. I see him jump up and he looks at me and I look at him. He was the last man and he waited till everybody was aboard. He gave him a last burst of his automatic weapon, threw it down and took off to the helicopter. Randy took about four steps and jumped in the water, sort of a flying jump in the water, trying to hit the helicopter. Missed and took about one stroke in the water and got his arm over the skid. And Fred Cook reaches down and grabs him by the rucksack and yells, let's go. And we drug him through the water and off we went.

[J.R. Martinez]

All of the men were on board. The fuel tanks were pretty much empty. The windshield was shattered. Jim hadn't even noticed it until he felt the air rushing in as the chopper flew away. Not a single man had been wounded and not a single man was left behind.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson (Doug)]

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[J.R. Martinez]

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[Jim Fleming]

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[J.R. Martinez]

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[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson (Doug)]

And Doug, there's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual. Even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show.

[Liberty Mutual Bird Commentator]

Hey, everyone, check out this guy and his bird. What is this, your first date?

[J.R. Martinez]

Oh, no.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson (Doug)]

We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual. Together, we're married. Me to a human, him to a bird.

[Liberty Mutual Bird Commentator]

Yeah, the bird looks out of your league. Anyways.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson (Doug)]

Get a [e-mail] or with your local agent.

[Liberty Mutual Bird Commentator]

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[J.R. Martinez]

After Jim Fleming's daring rescue, he stayed on in Vietnam, taking care of his men, bringing them to danger and bringing them home. He was wounded in January of 1969 and spent a few months in a hospital in Japan. Then he got picked up by a helicopter, of course, to head back to Vietnam. The pilot was a friend of his.

[Jim Fleming]

He said, well, Jim, you're going home. I said, yeah, I got another three or four months of this left. He said, no. He says, you're going home tomorrow. I said, I'm going home tomorrow. Why? He says, the President's nominated you for the Medal of Honor. And I said, yeah, great, because we used to joke, you know, how can you get out of here? Well, you can be nominated for the Medal of Honor. You have to go home. I said, yeah, okay. Right, right, right. He said, no, I'm not kidding. He says, you're going home. I'm saying, okay, this is a good one.

[J.R. Martinez]

It was a good one because it was true. James Fleming was awarded the Medal of honor on May 14, 1970, by President Nixon at the White House.

[Jim Fleming]

As we think of the beginning of

[Randy Harrison]

this country 190 years ago, we think of it as the land of the free. We should all be reminded that it could not be the land of the free if it were not also the

[Jim Fleming]

home of the brave.

[Randy Harrison]

And today, we honor the brave man, the men who, far beyond the call of duty, serve their country magnificently in a war very far away, in a war which is many times not understood and not supported by some in this country.

[J.R. Martinez]

The ceremony took place just 10 days after the massacre at Kent State University, when members of the Ohio National Guard shot into a crowd of unarmed students, students who were protesting the expansion of the war into Cambodia. Nine students were wounded. Four of them were killed. And in response, there were angry protests everywhere.

[Jim Fleming]

Washington D.C. was a battleground. We had escorts everywhere we went.

[J.R. Martinez]

The tide was really turning against the war in Vietnam, but it would Take another five years for it to end. Jim believes that in all those years, many men did exactly what he had done.

[Jim Fleming]

How many helicopter pilots were in Vietnam? Thousands. How many helicopter pilots did what I did and got shot down and died? No one saw it. Hundreds. I know that.

[J.R. Martinez]

While Jim didn't return to Vietnam, he stayed on in the Air Force. He became a colonel and taught at the Officer Training School at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. He finally retired in 1996. By then, his decorations included the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and eight air Medals. To me, what's cool about Jim's story isn't just the fireworks, you know, the adrenaline of battle. After all, he wasn't rocking and rolling in a gunship. He didn't even shoot a gun. He flew a bus. But I think that bus was more powerful than any gun could be because it was a symbol of his rock solid reliability. That's what Jim is all about. And he feels like that devotion to helping one another is deep in our DNA.

[Jim Fleming]

I never picked up an American in combat that did not, when he got to the helicopter, turn around and put his hand out to the next guy. Never. They automatically, no matter how bad things were going, when he hit that helicopter, that American turned around and looked for the next guy to help him, made sure everybody was there. That's who we are. That's who we are.

[J.R. Martinez]

Jim left no man behind.

[Jim Fleming]

That was my duty, my honor. My job was to take these soldiers into enemy territory, to drop them off, to let them do their mission and go back and bring them home.

[J.R. Martinez]

All of us understand the importance of showing up, of keeping our word. But I think some people feel that more deeply, like Jim. Maybe it was because his dad, John Fleming, was there for him, showed him the power of keeping a promise. Jim kept his promise to those seven men in that jungle. And by doing that, he gave them the chance to show up for the people in their lives. Just ask Randy Harrison. Remember him? The last man on the helicopter, the fair haired guy in the bandana. Here he is speaking at an event at the Air force Museum in 2016.

[Randy Harrison]

There is an ancient American spiritual, the words to which Sorry or I looked over Jordan and what did I see? Coming for to carry me home it was a band of angels coming after me Coming for to carry me home Swing low sweet chariot Swing low Coming for to carry me home it would be incredibly presumptuous of me to assume that twice in my life a band of angels in a sweet chariot will swing low to carry me home. But I'll tell you what, if it happens again, I'm going to know it before I see it because I've heard the sound of angels wings before. They sound like a, uh, one 10ft off the deck coming in at full speed to carry me home. Home to a completed college education, home to great work, home to wonderful friends, home to marriage and home to children, two sons that I would never have known were it not for the Green Hornets on that day in that terrible, terrible place.

[J.R. Martinez]

Medal of Honor Stories of Courage is written by Meredith Rollins and produced by Meredith Rollins and Ryan Sweikart. Our editor is Lydia Jean Cott. Sound design by Jake Gorski. Our executive producer is Constanza Gallardo. Fact checking by Arthur Gomperts and original music by Eric Phillips. Special thanks to the series creator, Dan McGinn, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society and the National Museum of the Air Force. If you want to learn more about this story, take a look at our show Notes, where we have some of the resources we used to put this episode together. We also want to hear from you. Send us your personal story of courage or highlight someone else's bravery. Email us at MedalOfHonorushkin FM. You might hear your stories on future episodes of Medal of Honor or see them on our social channels. PushkinPods. I'm your host, J.R. martinez.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson (Doug)]

And Doug. There's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual. Even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show.

[Liberty Mutual Bird Commentator]

Hey, everyone, check out this. Look at this guy and his bird. What is this, your first date?

[J.R. Martinez]

Oh, no.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson (Doug)]

We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual together. We're married. Me to a human, him to a bird.

[Liberty Mutual Bird Commentator]

Yeah, the bird looks out of your league.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson (Doug)]

Anyways, get a [e-mail] or with your local agent.

[Liberty Mutual Bird Commentator]

Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty.

[Jim Fleming]

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[J.R. Martinez]

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[Jim Fleming]

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[J.R. Martinez]

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[Jim Fleming]

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[J.R. Martinez]

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[Jim Fleming]

See lowe's.com for details.

[VRBO/TikTok Advertiser]

Visit your nearby Lowes.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson (Doug)]

And Doug, there's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual. Even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show.

[Liberty Mutual Bird Commentator]

Hey, everyone, check out this guy and his bird. What is this, your first date?

[J.R. Martinez]

Oh, no.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson (Doug)]

We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual together. We're married. Me to a human, him to a bird.

[Liberty Mutual Bird Commentator]

Yeah, the bird looks out of your league. Anyways.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson (Doug)]

Get a [e-mail] or with your local agent.

[Liberty Mutual Bird Commentator]

Liberty, Liberty, Liberty, Liberty.