Jan. 16, 1969: Air Force pilot Joe Madison Jackson and Marine Corps aviator Stephen W. Pless stood at rigid attention as their commander-in-chief presented them with the Medal of Honor. Both men earned the MOH for separate airborne rescue operations in Vietnam. Jackson was behind the controls of a twin-engine C-123 Provider; Pless piloted the legendary Huey helicopter. Upon learning both men were from the same small town in Georgia, President Lyndon Johnson quipped, “There must be something in the water down in Newnan.” No, hero-producing liquid doesn’t flow through the water pipes in Newnan, but perhaps the small Georgia town does produce a better breed of warrior. And these are their stories.

The tiny village of Kham Duc, South Vietnam is located near the Laotian border about 100 miles south of Khe Sanh. U.S. Marines held on to Khe Sanh during the historic 77-day siege before and after the Tet Offensive of 1968, yet after being refused the victory at Khe Sanh the Communist forces moved south and fell upon Kham Duc with a vengeance.

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