Retired Air Force Col. Joe M. Jackson, a Medal of Honor recipient, a veteran of three wars and Air Force legend, has died. Jackson, a native of Newnan, Ga., was famous within the aviation and special operations community for his daring rescue of a team of Air Force combat controllers who were stranded at the besieged airfield of an abandoned Army Special Forces camp during the Tet Offensive.
His exploits saved the lives of three men, but risked his own, as the airfield had been the site of multiple U.S. aircraft shootdowns and aircrew fatalities over the past 24 hours.
Although Jackson has passed, his exploits and the significance of the battle he took part in were recorded in the Southeast Asia Monographs, Volume V-7, at the Airpower Research Institute of Maxwell Air Force Base, as well as first-person accounts archived by the Library of Congress.
Pause and give salute and prayer for this old warrior. He won't be featured on the news, but he was truly a legend. I'm attaching a copy of the famous artist rendering of the rescue.
