James Fleming’s Impossible Vietnam War Rescue | From Medal of Honor
5/22/202631 min
This July 4th marks the 250th Anniversary of America—250 years of rebellion and innovation, of struggle and survival. At many times, our American experiment looked like it could fall apart at the seams. When you look closely at those moments, it was ordinary people who kept it all together. In thew new season of Medal of Honor, our podcast about courage, leadership, identity, and sacrifice, we’re telling the stories of some of those people. People like James Fleming. In 1968, in the dense jungles of Vietnam, a team of Green Berets was pinned down by an overwhelming North Vietnamese Army force. Their last hope was a young Air Force pilot named James Fleming. Despite being low on fuel and facing a wall of enemy fire, Fleming refused to turn back. The rescue mission seemed destined to fail, but a split-second decision would earn Fleming the nation’s highest military honor.
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First 90 secondsMalcolm Gladwell· Host0:00
[intro music] Pushkin. 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. At 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 semi-quincentennial, 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 Honor: Stories of Courage. Thank you for listening. Here's host J.R. Martinez with the first episode. Find Medal of Honor wherever you get podcasts, and binge the full season ad-free with a Pushkin Plus subscription. Sign up and save on the Medal of Honor show page on Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus.