
James Fleming’s Impossible Vietnam War Rescue | From Medal of Honor
From Revisionist History: The Staten Island Problem by Pushkin Industries
May 22, 2026 · 31 min · Season 15
About this episode
The episode tells the story of James Fleming's courageous rescue mission during the Vietnam War.
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. Binge the full season of Medal of Honor, ad-free, with a Pushkin+ subscriptions. Sign up on the Medal of Honor show page in Apple or at Pushkin.fm/plus and use the code MOH25 for 25% off an annual subscription. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Topics covered
- Vietnam War
- courage
- leadership
- sacrifice
- American history
- rescue missions
Keywords
- James Fleming
- Vietnam War
- Medal of Honor
- rescue mission
- Green Berets
- North Vietnamese Army
- courage
- sacrifice
Sponsors
Pushkin+
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Pushkin Industries
Books & works: Medal of Honor
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