ST. LOUIS – On Memorial Day, families across the United States honor those who sacrificed their lives for freedom, including those who knew Gary Lee McKiddy, a fallen soldier from the Vietnam War.

Gary Lee McKiddy died in Vietnam while saving his friend, Jim Skaggs.

“For me to see him like this was very concerning. He told me he didn’t feel good about this mission and he wanted to scratch it off. (Gary) was the crew chief; he had the right to do that,” Skaggs said. “When he told me he wanted to scratch me off, I said, ‘If you’re going, I’m going, and that’s the way it is.'”

Gunfire struck the helicopter during their mission over Cambodia.

 “We hit the ground; the bird flipped over on its left side,” Skaggs remembered. “I saw the jungle rushing toward us, and I saw the glass in front of me crash; it’s the last thing I remember about the crash.”

At the time of the crash, Skaggs did not realize that McKiddy pulled him out of the burning helicopter at the expense of his own life.

“(Jim is) here today because of my brother. It’s not just him here; he’s got 20 kids and grandkids now that wouldn’t be here if my brother hadn’t pulled him out of that burning fire,” Rick McKiddy said.

Gary’s story is now being shared by Skaggs and his brother, Rick, as they travel the country advocating for him to be awarded the honor posthumously. Despite his heroism, McKiddy was supposed to receive the Medal of Honor in 1970, but it never happened.

“The sacrifice that every one of our men and women has made is the reason that we’re here today,” His brother Rick told FOX 2. “We can never lose sight of that; without them, we dont have this.”

All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by KTVI. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat from a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by KTVI staff before being published.