Jacksel M . Broughton Jacksel ( Jack ) Markham Broughton ( born January 4 , 1925 ) was a career officer and fighter pilot in the United States Air Force . He retired in the rank of colonel on August 31 , 1968 , with 43 separate awards and decorations , including four Distinguished Flying Cross es , two Silver Star s and the highest Air Force decoration , the presidentially - awarded Air Force Cross . Broughton avowed that his proudest accomplishment was being combat - qualified in every Air Force fighter from the P - 47 to the F - 106 . He authored two personal memoirs of the Vietnam War that were highly critical of the direction of the air war there and the rules of engagement . Biography . Broughton was born in Utica , New York . He was a 1942 graduate of Brighton High School in Rochester , New York . He was an Episcopalian . Broughton entered the United States Military Academy on July 15 , 1942 , appointed from New York ' s 38th congressional district , in the wartime three - year curriculum that consolidated the cadet second ( junior ) and first class ( senior ) years into a single 12 - month period . He graduated 839th in general merit among the 852 members of the Class of 1945 , completing his flight training while still a cadet at Garner Field , Texas , and Stewart Field , New York . He was commissioned into the United States Army Air Forces on June 5 , 1945 . Broughton married on December 25 , 1951 , to Alice Joy ( " AJ " ) Owen , and produced a son and three daughters . Following his retirement from the Air Force in 1968 , Broughton worked as a pilot for Antilles Air Boats in Fajardo , Puerto Rico , Conroy Aircraft managing a contract for aerial resupply of Mobil Oil operations on the Alaska North Slope , and as a manager in the flight test program and a technical planning advisor for the Space Shuttle Endeavour for Rockwell International . He also formed a corporation seeking to develop a practical bus - sized air cushion vehicle . Air Force career . World War II ended before Broughton could participate in combat missions . He initially combat - qualified as a pilot in North American B - 25 Mitchell medium bombers at Enid Army Air Field , Oklahoma , and was in training to become a Boeing B - 17 Flying Fortress pilot at Hendricks Army Air Field , Florida , when he received orders in December 1945 transferring him to Europe as a fighter pilot . His first operational assignment in March 1946 was as a Republic P - 47 Thunderbolt pilot in the 389th Fighter Squadron , 366th Fighter Group , at Fritzlar Air Base , Germany , followed by a transfer in June 1947 to the 525th Fighter Squadron , 86th Fighter Group at Neubiberg Air Base , where he was stationed in September 1947 when the USAF became a separate service . He returned to the United States in 1948 , and after two brief instructor assignments he described as " unattractive " , joined the newly created Fighter Weapons Squadron at Las Vegas Air Force Base , Nevada . Between January and November 1951 Broughton flew two combat tours of duty in the Korean War , in F - 80C Shooting Stars with the 8th Fighter - Bomber Squadron , 49th Fighter - Bomber Group , at Taegu Air Base , and as flight leader for " Project Swatrock " , a combat field test of the Swiss - manufactured Oerlikon anti - tank rocket using the Republic F - 84 Thunderjet as a test bed . After Korea , Broughton became Crew Training Air Force ( CREWTAF ) operations officer at Del Rio Air Force Base , Texas , directing training in F - 84s . He transferred in 1953 to Luke Air Force Base , Arizona , to commanded one of the first F - 84F Thunderstreak squadrons , a firepower demonstration team , leading the team to win the 1954 Bendix Trophy Race . From October 1954 to February 1957 Broughton commanded the Thunderbirds , the USAF aerial demonstration team , leading them through the transition from the straight - wing F - 84G to the swept - wing F - 84F , and then to become the world ' s first supersonic acrobatic team in the F - 100C Super Sabre . After assignments at Vincent Air Force Base , Arizona , and Tyndall Air Force Base , Florida , commanding a fighter weapons systems training squadron , Broughton spent a year in Ankara , Turkey , as a member of the U . S . Military Assistance Group there . His tour was cut short by a medical emergency involving his son , and he transferred in 1961 to the staff of the 78th Air Defense Wing at Hamilton Air Force Base , California . From September 1962 to June 1964 , when he was promoted to colonel , Broughton commanded the 5th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron , an Air Defense Command squadron of Convair F - 106 Delta Dart s at Minot Air Force Base , North Dakota , and was instrumental in getting the aircraft ' s deadly ejection seat replaced . He graduated from two professional military education schools , the Air Command and Staff College in 1958 , and the National War College in 1965 . He was then assigned as deputy commander for operations ( DCS / Ops ) of the 6441st Tactical Fighter Wing at Yokota Air Base , Japan . The 6441st TFW had been activated in 1964 to control both the nuclear strike mission and rotational combat duties in Thailand of three squadrons of Republic F - 105 Thunderchief s . His final assignment was as Vice Commander of the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing at Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base between September 1966 and June 1967 , leading 102 missions against targets in North Vietnam in the F - 105 . Author . Broughton authored two books , " Thud Ridge " ( 1968 ) and " Going Downtown : The War Against Hanoi and Washington " ( 1988 ) , in which he discussed his perceptions and history of the air war over Southeast Asia . The latter book was based largely upon his subsequent court martial resulting from an attack on a Soviet ship in Haiphong Harbor ( the " " Turkestan " incident " ) . In 2007 he published " Rupert Red Two : A Fighter Pilot ' s Life from Thunderbolts to Thunderchiefs " , an autobiography of his USAF career . " Thud Ridge " was a contemporary wartime memoir of his tour in Southeast Asia . Broughton was highly critical of the U . S . command structure then directing air operations against North Vietnam . The book resulted from the court martial of Broughton and two of his pilots for allegedly conspiring to violate the rules of engagement regarding U . S . air operations . Although acquitted of the most serious charges , Broughton was subsequently transferred to an obscure post in The Pentagon , allegedly as a vendetta because his punishment was so slight . Required by office protocol to work only two or three days a month , he used both his extra time and his bitterness at the Air Force to compose " Thud Ridge " while he awaited approval of an application to appeal of his conviction to the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records . After his conviction was overturned and expunged from his record because of " undue command influence " , Broughton retired from the Air Force in August 1968 and had the memoir published by J . B . Lippincott . Broughton continued to be active as a writer , having his first article " Pain and Gain in the Century Series " ( see " External links " ) published by " AIR FORCE Magazine " in September 2012 . Awards and decorations . From top , and from left to right : Command pilot . Air Force Cross citation . The President of the United States of America , authorized by Title 10 , Section 8742 , United States Code , takes pleasure in presenting the Air Force Cross to Colonel Jacksel M . Broughton ( AFSN : 0 - 17035 ) , United States Air Force , for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an opposing armed force in Southeast Asia while serving as Pilot of an F - 105 Thunderchief of the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing , Takhli Royal Thai Air Base , in action over North Vietnam on 5 February 1967 . On that date , Colonel Broughton was Mission Commander of a flight of a two wing F - 105 Thunderchief strike force which attacked a heavily defended target in North Vietnam . Despite serious aircraft malfunctions , marginal weather , and grave damage to his aircraft from an exploding surface - to - air missile , he placed his armament directly on target , scattering fire and debris which illuminated the target for easy acquisition by the following strike force . Disregarding the crippled condition of his aircraft , which minimized his chances for recovery to friendly territory , Colonel Broughton then willfully acted as a decoy to divert hostile aircraft approaching the strike force . Through his extraordinary heroism , superb airmanship , and aggressiveness in the face of the enemy , Colonel Broughton reflected the highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force . Silver Star citations . Silver Star for Actions of 4 December 1966 Silver Star for Actions of 13 May 1967