Danny Jacks' Service Recalled at Dedication

RISON - Col. Ralph Tildon recalled the first time he ever spoke with Staff Sgt. Danny Lee Jacks said a lot about the kind of person that Jacks was. It was in Vietnam in the fall of 1969 and Tildon was serving as an executive officer in the same Army company as Jacks. Tildon said he ended up in that position after being wounded as a platoon leader in another company and was reassigned to a different company after a stay in the hospital in Saigon, Vietnam. Part of his duties as the executive officer was to write up awards and declarations for soldiers within that company, and it was that role that brought him in contact with Jacks. He said Jacks came to him that day asking that a fellow soldier, Staff Sgt. Robert Pruden of Minnesato, be granted a Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration for a member of the U.S. Armed Forces that is awarded to those who display acts of valor. Tildon said Pruden was mortally wounded in combat and Jacks was there by his side as he was dying. Tildon said Jacks, at first, tried to assure Pruden that he was going to be okay, but Pruden knew the gravity of his situation. Tildon said Jacks finally admitted to Pruden that he was dying as he was trying to help his fellow soldier. One of the last things that Tildon said Pruden asked Jacks to do was to tell his mother that he loved her. He said Jacks fllowed through with that promise. Both soldiers were 20 years old at the time. "Danny's effort led to Pruden receiving the Medal of Honor," Tildon said. Tildon, a graduate of West Point who went on to become an intelligence officer with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) after retiring from the U.S. Army Reserves, made the trip from his home in Virginia to serve as the guest speaker for a ceremony dedicating a new Vientma War era statue in Jacks' honor at the Cleveland County Veterans Park in Rison. More than 100 people were on hand at Saturday morning to pa...