Photo of a MoH Action

 

Gumby Mark wrote this comment to a 21 November 2018 post by Nanda Panjandrum:

“Four Marines received the Medal of Honor for their actions on Tarawa, one of whom was 1st Lt Sandy Bonnyman, still the only MOH recipient to be photographed during the action for which he received the medal (see below for photo). The Japanese bunker on which Bonnyman died can be seen starting at about 8:50 in the second video in the post above.”

I remember thinking at the time, that’s not correct.  There was a C-123 pilot in Vietnam who was photographed during his Medal of Honor action, but I couldn’t remember the man’s name or date and place of the action, so I let it go. Yesterday I opened my newly-arrived Air Force Magazine and there he was.

Joe M. Jackson was born in 1923.  During WWII, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps at 18 years old as a B-25 crew chief. He was accepted into pilot training and flew fighters as a gunnery instructor. The war ended before he saw combat, but during the Korean War, he flew 107 combat missions in an F-84 Thunderstreak. He also was a U-2 pilot and flew recon missions during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

According to the article in Air Force Magazine (March 2019. p. 20) by John A Tirpak:

“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.”

The photo below shows Jackson’s C-123 while the three airmen ran to it.  It is one frame of an 8mm home movie shot by another pilot orbiting the airfield.  Joe Jackson died in January 2019.

Published in History
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  1. Gumby Mark (R-Meth Lab of Demo… Coolidge
    Gumby Mark (R-Meth Lab of Demo…
    @GumbyMark

    Glad to be wrong on this one!

    • #1
  2. ST Member
    ST
    @

    awesome OP dude

    • #2
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