Medal of Honor and Legacy

This july fourth marks the two hundred fiftieth anniversary of America. two hundred and fifty years of rebellion and innovation struggled in 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 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 quin centennial We're telling the stories of some of those people Bravery is in all of us And because the same qualities that carried us through the first two hundred and fifty years Courage, honor, and loyalty will help us endure the next two hundred and fifty 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 Binge the full season ad free Pushkin pllus subscription Sign up and save on the Medal of Honors show page on Apple Podcast Pushkin. F. slash plus. Use the code M O H two five twenty five percent off on annual subscription The helicopter made its way up the river The rotor blade was humming against the sky There was stick jungle on both sides of the river bank Bright green against the rushing brown water It was november twenty sixth, nineteen sixty eight, 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 twenty five year old James Fleming He could see a down 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 killed by the North Vietnamese Army They had fought their way to the river bank And Jim was their only chance to get out of their alves. Jim rememember 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. 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 Honor, 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 Flemy, doesn't just see that as a concept He sees it as a responsibility somethingomething 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. We spend hours deciding what to buy But there's a split second decision. that can make or break a sale Do you have the trust Bye now Agentic commerce is testing that moment more than ever And that's where PayPal comes in With twenty five years of checkouts four hundred million consumer accounts globally. and the benefit of purchase and seller protection All of which make sure wherever a purchase starts It ends with trust. Bilt for payments, Gth and agentic PayPal openen, built for all business. Visit PayPal openen. . com Purchase and seller protections on eligible transactions only terms apply See payPal. com slash risk dash management for details. Liberty was never just a word It has guided every American endeavor past two hundred and fifty years And now it takes form in a new way. The twenty twenty six semi quin centennial coin and Medal program from the United States Mint celebrates the founding ideals that have long shaped our coinage Available one year only, this historic collection features new coin designs limited edition releases and reissues Shop new official coins at usmint. gov slash semiQ That's U mint. gov slash S E M I Q Running a business shouldn't feel like surviving a software group project One app for accounting, another for inventory, another for sales. And somehow none of them talk to each other That's where Odu comes in. An all in one business management software that brings every part of your business together from sales and accounting to inventory and marketing all in one powerful platform No messy integrations, no bouncing between tabs. And best of all No spreadsheets. Stop managing software and start managing your business with one unified system Try for free today at odoo. com slash iheart radio. That's ODoo d. com slash iheart radio When Jim Fleming tells the story of his life He begins with the moment he was left behind I was born today in Missouri elth of march nineteen forty three. My mother, we were abandoned by my father right after my brother was born, he was born in forty four And she was a single mother working in a town and country combat boot shoe factory in today in Missouri. 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. They got married in Las Vegas. He came back and took my brother and myself and her to California. John Fleming taught Jimm two things First, what it means to have a dad 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 My father was the driving force behind everything I did. He was my hero. 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 never wanted it to be anything else 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 couldn't wait to get into combat and serve his country 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 fly in war But Vietnam wasn't exactly what he'd imagined Jim remembers how it felt when he arrived in nineteen sixty eight. As we get off, the flares are going off around. You can see artillery going off over here and it was just question your mind you're somewhere you never been before. We probably got there at midnight gotot in our barracks probably four in the morning or whatever get a couple hours of sleep and I remember turnurn an over and a tear. comes out of my eye and down my nose And I st and said to myself, Damn, Only three hundred and sixty four more of these to go where I got, you know, I' re Already knew I didn't like it there Jib did three days of jungle survival training justust in case the chopper went down. It scared the hell out of him and't like that at all It taught me I did not want to go down and have to walk home 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 Hochim Ment Trail The U.S wanted to stop that flow of supplies they couldn't officially be in either of those countries So they secretly sent in small teams of green Bererets They were the stududies and observations group or soG for short It was totally covert ops. Those SG teams were inserted by Air Force pilots from the twentieth Special Operations Squadron otherwise known as the Green Hornets They flew UH one helicopters In a military, we call them Huies 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 twenty sixth, nineteen sixty eight He got ready for a drop The first mission of the day was to insert A seven man spepecial Forces team, three Americans and four mercenaries Those mercenaries were referred to as Montagards They were members of a tribe from the Highlands of Vietnam Montag yards were a key part of any sog team becausecause they were not only seasoned soldiers, but also expert local guides and translators So this sock team. was going to be dropped right at the border of Cambodia and Vietnam Their target was the Tal Lison River. They suspected it was a route for the NVA Sok 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 They needed the into they went The team would be taken to their mission by a convoy of five helicopters Two gunships and three slicks Jim flew as slleep. which was essentially a bus Take the guns out, take the rockets off, open up the cab, and it's completely empty. You carry troops. It was a slick 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 safe for that one Plus, there was a forward air controller plane What the guy is called a fact The choppers didn't have much navigation So the factC 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 Before you took off You would brief and you would shake hands and hug the team members and the crew members Not a lot of 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. I'm going to put you out in the middle of ill 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 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 season. He didn't know that it wasn't gonna be so easy The factat left first, then the Hughys. They headed towards the drop location. When they got close, the choppers split up to evade detection. 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 After the Sw 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 We're sitting around listening to rock and roll from Armed Forces, radio, eating sea rations and smoking cigars and you know, set an alert out in the middle of this miserable little place After Jim dropped them, the seven members of the saG 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 the radio operator with him keyed the mic and said, Tangoify one, contact, need extraction. As soon as that happens, we get it. We're on our way The pilots scramble to their choppers. to the air We spend hours researching products online and deciding what to buy But there's a split second decision that can make or break a sale Do You have the trust to hit the buy now button The way we discover and compare things is evolving, happening faster and influenced by new forms of intelligent advice But the underlying trust question doesn't go away. If anything, it's more important than ever That's where PayPal comes in For more than twenty five years They've been a trusted way to pay. And now PayPal can make the agentic era of commerce work for merchants Letting them maintain control of their brand customer relationships So even as the way we shop changes, the moment that matters most stillill feels familiar Bil for payments, Gth and agentic PayPal open, built for all business PayPal openen. com get started Purchase and seller protections on eligible transactions only terms apply See payPal. com slash risk dash management for details Liberty was never just a word. It has guided every American endeavor for the past two hundred and fifty years And now it takes form in a new way The twenty twenty six semiQin centennial coin and metal program from the United States Mint celebrates the founding ideals that have long shaped our coinage Available one year only, this historic collection features new coin designs limited edition releases and reissues U new official coins at usmint. gov slash semiQ That's U mint. gov slash E M I Q It's Jacob Goldstein from Business History In our new series, American Genius, we tell the stories of three great writers who changed the way business works in America. Our first episode is about Benjamin Franklin Among many other things, was a best selling business writer takeake a listen He's writing this much later in his life. consonsciously creating this image of himself I do want to emphasize how unusual this model is at the time, this self made man myth. because you don't want to be self made. It's low class to be self made. You know, this idea that we have today is the opposite, right? And it comes from Franklin. todayoday. There is the derisive term neepo biting. Well, exactly right. And these days, if you are a billionaire, you had better have a Benjamin Franklin story about starting in a garage, coming up with the idea from nothing. And here is Benjamin Franklin inventing it right before our eyes This has been brought to you by Odoo To listen to more of our American Genius series, listen to business history New episodes release every Wednesday on the IHart Radio app or wherever you get your podcast. For the soG team on the ground of Vietnam The situation had gone from bad reallyally, really bad Jim Fleming and the rest of the Green Hornets. We're getting updates from them over the radio The NVA had the SG team on the run Now they're after him 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 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 The forward air controller got to the area first couldn't find the men The jungle canopy was just too dense. The FAC has identified where he thinks they are becausecause they're moving He knows they're on the river, but exactly where he can't really tell Then came the helicopters Two gunships and three slicks The first guy is to get there the gunships. What do gunships like to do more than they like to do anything else? Rock and roll blazing gunfire and rockets towards the enemy which was both helpful and not becausecause it created a totally new problem Before, the sow team had just been facing the men in front of them the ones who had chased them to the river A 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 headen over there So now they had nowhere to hide. The gunships knocked out two of the machine gun positions Then They hit the first gunship 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 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 They go home. They can't help anybody, so they're going home Only three of the five helicopters were left E 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 truck Low fuel So now, just two helicopters left The second gunship, Leonard Gonzallez, 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's saying, dam What are we going to do? He said, Well, I tell you what This is really a lot of chaos. I betch you I can get in there and get them. 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 them 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 So he puts me low, way up down the river and come back around. so I hit that river bank and my right door gunner starts shooting. He says, goo right, go right And I'm starting to go down the river. looking for them and going right, going right sort of backing up actually going down the river. The chopper was skimming over the water, flying through the bullets His door gunners and co pilot return fire and search for the team The saG teams saw Jim's chopper come in. But as they started to move towards it The woodline in front of them erupted with gunfire. There was no way for the men to make it to Gym. radio operator says, G out, get out. they got us, get out 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 promise 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. dayaylight was fading Down on the ground, the gunfire was so thick you could practically walk on it. Jym was desperately low on fuel and ammo. The last remaining gunship with Gonzalez was still trailing smoke Jim called out to him He says, we've got some damn. He says, I got to take this home or we're going to live out here We're going to 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 Mle. 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 him 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 Gonzalez says, you going back in said, I'm going to try it one more time He said, I tell you what, he says, foollow me I'll go over him one more time. I'll give him everything I got and I got to go home Gonzalez hit the enemy with the final blazing pass He goes over him and he rock and rolls He shoots all his rockets. They give him everything they got And he says, seeee at home, Jim, and he takes off Jim's Chopper was the only one left He started back down the river One of his two gunners was hanging out the door, scanning for the team on the ground. 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. stop, stop. I got him They had made it down to the river bank 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 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 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 this 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 st team They spotted him and race forward But as they did, two NVA burst out of the reeds and opened fire The men shot back and they kept on running 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 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. And I'm looking around and I see people darting up and just sort of jumping up and down, up and down and shooting There's seven of them out there. We only got six Now they'm thinking, gosh. Maybe they got one of them got enough He had enough men. didnid'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. We got to get out of here sooner later than going to get us round's going to hit mee or is going to hit the engine 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 When he knew he was pushing his luck too far He looked over his shoulder one last 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 until 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 fly and 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 in by the rooookack and yells, let's go And we dug him through the water and off we went 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 We spend hours researching products online and deciding what to buy But there's a split second decision that can make or break a sale You have the trust to hit the buy now button The way we discover and compare things is evolving, happening faster and influenced by new forms of intelligent advice But the underlying trust question doesn't go away If anything, it's more important than ever That's where PayPal comes in For more than twenty five years They've been a trusted way to pay. And now PayPal can make the agentic era of commerce work for merchants Letting them maintain control of their brand customer relationships So even as the way we shop changes, the moment that matters most still feels familiar able Bill for payments, Gth and Aentic PayPal open, built for all business PayPal openpen. com started Purchase and seller protections on eligible transactions only Terms apply. See payPal. com slash risk dash mananagement for details Liberty was never just a word. guided every American endeavor the past two hundred and fifty years And now it takes form in a new way The twenty twenty six semiQin centennial coin and metedal program from the United States Mint celebrates the founding ideals that have long shaped our coinage Available one year only, this historic collection features new coin designs limited edition releases and reissues U new official coins at Umint. gov slash semiQ That's US mint. gov slash S E M I Q. If your business runs on five different apps, twelve browser tabs, and one spreadsheet that everyone's afraid to touch P'srobably time for Odu OdU is an all in one business management software that connects every part of your business into one powerful, easy to use platform So instead of wasting time switching between disconnected systems Your entire business works together in real time. Your team moves faster, your data stays accurate, and you can actually focus on growing your business Let one unified system run your entire business From the first opportunity to the final payment, everything works together in one place Whether you're a small business or managing a large operation Odoo gives you one flexible platform built to grow with you. Try for free today at odoo. com slash iheart radio. That's OdOo d. com slash iheart radio After Jim Fleming's daring rescue, he stayed on in Vietnam taking care of his men brringing them to danger bringing them home He was wounded in January of nineteen sixty nine and spent a few months in a hospital in Japan Then he got picked up By helicopter, of course.