Lt. Col. Joe M. Jackson

Joe Maddison Jackson was born on March 14, 1923, in Newnan, Georgia. He was an avid model aircraft enthusiast in his youth. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps in March 1941, just a few days after his 18th birthday, in hopes of being an airplane mechanic. Jackson was the pilot of a C-123, a larger transport aircraft, primarily used to transport supplies and the wounded. On May 12, 1968, during the Battle of Kham Duc near Laos, Jackson volunteered to attempt the rescue of three Special Forces men, that were trapped near an airstrip, which had been taken over by Hostile enemy forces. They had established gun positions on the airstrip and were raking the camp with small-arms, mortars, light and heavy automatic-weapons, and recoilless-rifle fire. The camp was engulfed in flames, and ammunition dumps were continuously exploding and littering the runway with debris and other crashed aircraft. Eight other aircrafts had already been destroyed by the intense enemy fire and one aircraft remained on the runway reducing its usable length to only 2,200 feet. Which is much shorter than what a C-123 typically needs to land and take off. To further complicate the landing, the weather was deteriorating rapidly, thereby permitting only one air strike prior to his landing. Although fully aware of the extreme danger and likely failure of such an attempt, Jackson elected to land his aircraft and attempt to rescue. Displaying superb airmanship and extraordinary heroism, he successfully landed his aircraft, amid intense enemy fire and artillery, near the point where the combat control team was reported to be hiding. While on the ground, his aircraft was the target of intense hostile fire. A rocket landed in front of the nose of the aircraft but failed to explode. The trapped men ran from the jungle along the airstrip and launched themselves into the plane as Jackson turned the plane around and took off again. Once the combat control team was aboard, Lt. Col. Jackson succeeded in getting airborne despite the hostile fire directed across the runway in front of his aircraft. Jackson retired from the Air Force in 1973, and is remembered as the developer of several techniques still used by pilots. He fought in World War 2, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. On January 16, 1969, President Lyndon B. Johnson presented Jackson with the Medal of Honor at a White House ceremony. Other than the Medal of Honor, Jackson earned the USAF Command Pilot badge, the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with three bronze oak leaf clusters, the Air Force Commendation Medal with a bronze oak leaf cluster, the Air Force Presidential Unit Citation, the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the American Defense Service Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the Army of Occupation Medal, the National Defense Service Medal with a service star, the Korean Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal with a bronze campaign star, the Air Force Longevity Service Award with one silver and two bronze oak leaf clusters, the Armed Forces Reserve Medal, the Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon, the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation, the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation, the United Nations Korea Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal, and the Korean War Service Medal. Lieutenant Colonel Joe Jackson died on January 12, 2019, at his home in Orting, Washington, at the age of 95. He was laid to rest at the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington Virginia.