0:00 / 0:00
From Medal of Honor: James Fleming’s Impossible Vietnam War Rescue

From Medal of Honor: James Fleming’s Impossible Vietnam War Rescue

Car Show! with Eddie Alterman May 27, 2026 31 min
0:00
0:00

About this episode

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.

Connect with the team! 

Episode resources:

“SOG Combat in Cambodia: Under the Gun at Tango Five-One” by Randy Harrison, Soldier of Fortune Magazine, August 1982 

Green Hornets: The History of the U.S. Air Force 20th Special Operations Squadron by Wayne Mutza (Schiffer Military History, 2007) 

Secret Green Beret Commandos In Cambodia: A Memorial History of MACVSOG's Command and Control Detachment South (CCS) And Its Air Partners, Republic of Vietnam, 1967-1972 by Fred S. Lindsey (AuthorHouse, 2012)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Technical Too Afraid to Ask
Car

Jeep Commander

"... it. But this was Jim's second day as an aircraft commander. He was a lieutenant way younger than the other p..."
Sign in to suggest edits or report issues
Car

Space Chariot

"...e, coming ford to carry me home. Swing low, sweet chariot, swing low, coming for to carrying me home. It wo..."
Sign in to suggest edits or report issues
2 cars featured

Request an Explanation

Heard something you'd like explained? We'll add it to this episode.

Sign in to request explanations for terms you heard.

Want to learn more?

Browse our glossary for plain-English explanations of automotive terms, jargon, and concepts.

Explore Terms

Help improve this episode

See something that's not quite right? Our annotations are AI-generated and can sometimes miss the mark. Click the flag icon on any annotation to suggest a correction.

Report incorrect info
Suggest better explanations
Flag missing cars