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Medal of Honor Recipient

James Phillip Fleming

U.S. Air Force · Vietnam War

MOH-RC-002030Source-based record

The award

Representative medal image: Air Force design introduced in 1965. Not a portrait or a photograph of this recipient’s own medal.
Air Force Medal of HonorRecorded presentation: 1970

Portrait not yet available. Representative medal shown.

About this image

Representative form selected from the recorded presentation year (1970), not authenticated medal-object provenance.

Medal imagery and historical designs →

Medal of Honor

November 26, 1968

near Duc Co, Republic of Vietnam

Rank at action
First Lieutenant
Service
U.S. Air Force
Conflict
Vietnam War
Unit or command
20th Special Operations Squadron, United States Air Force
Presentation date
May 14, 1970

The Citation

Sources ↓
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Capt. Fleming (then 1st Lt.) distinguished himself as the Aircraft Commander of a UH-1F transport Helicopter. Capt. Fleming went to the aid of a 6-man special forces long range reconnaissance patrol that was in danger of being overrun by a large, heavily armed hostile force. Despite the knowledge that 1 helicopter had been downed by intense hostile fire, Capt. Fleming descended, and balanced his helicopter on a river bank with the tail boom hanging over open water. The patrol could not penetrate to the landing site and he was forced to withdraw. Dangerously low on fuel, Capt. Fleming repeated his original landing maneuver. Disregarding his own safety, he remained in this exposed position. Hostile fire crashed through his windscreen as the patrol boarded his helicopter. Capt. Fleming made a successful takeoff through a barrage of hostile fire and recovered safely at a forward base. Capt. Fleming's profound concern for his fellowmen, and at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Air Force and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country.

Sources & record notes

General Order comparison: pending. Current-profile review does not mean that the underlying original order has been examined.

  1. James Phillip Fleming — current Society profile ↗Congressional Medal of Honor Society · Checked 2026-08-30

    current identity, service, action metadata, and citation comparison

Transcription, metadata & provenance notes
Award ID
MOH-AW-002040
Transcription status
Legacy full text · current reference profile matched
Last source check
2026-08-30
Later or highest recorded rank
Colonel
Entered service at
Pullman, Wash.
Accredited to
Washington
Archive transcription SHA-256
5006cfb105734c70a32a5e5bedd0c85fe6d7eeb073279d32803e5a57e54f75b8

Legacy transcription retained without substantive editing; rendered current reference profile variants documented in the Phase 10 evidence snapshot.

The current authoritative source expands or normalizes the inherited name from James P. Fleming to James Phillip Fleming; both renderings remain preserved. The controlled action rank is First Lieutenant. The inherited rank is 1st Lieutenant; the current profile also records Captain (rank at time of action: First Lieutenant; highest rank: Colonel). Action, presentation, and later/highest ranks remain separately attributed. The current authoritative unit wording is 20th Special Operations Squadron, United States Air Force; the inherited unit 20th Special Operations Squadron remains preserved as a source variant. The current historical action-place wording replaces only the controlled canonical geocoder field; the complete inherited place remains preserved. The current authoritative profile classifies the action under Vietnam War; the inherited Not yet classified value remains preserved in the audit record.

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