I posted this link on another forum.
http://www.medalofhonor.com/JoeMJackson.htm
I had the pleasure of listening to him speak at a recent conference. When he tells the story it's much more interesting. At one point, the airfield was going to be destroyed until it was relayed that the 3 man combat control team was still on the ground...Col Jackson told us there was no magic moment, no defining thought, he just keyed the mic and said "We're in" The story in the link says they descended at 4000 ft per minute, but he told us that's not true...the gauge goes to 5000 and it was pegged!
He also told us that he thought he could turn the airplane around on the runway faster than the 3 guys could run to the airplane...also not true...he said those guys were up and in the airplane half way through the turn...I think they were highly motivated to leave!
Pretty amazing story and a true pleasure to meet someone like this.
My time in the service was not nearly as harrowing...But I consider it a privilege to have served for the country and WITH so many great people!
I had a lot of people ask how I felt when I retired...I think the biggest adjustment was I didn't feel like I had a sense of purpose. I know many people view the military as a tool for war or just as defending the country. But when we landed somewhere with that big ole C-5, and started offloading humanitarian supplies, or when we were evacuating the embassy folk's families from Tehran or even if we were bringing a case of beer to a soldier in East Japip, the looks of thanks were amazing. The Flag on that tail provided a link back to home for so many of them. I'm glad I got to be a part of it all. So much so it's what brought me back to civil service life.