MIAMISBURG, Ohio (WKEF) — For 56 years, retired Army veteran Jim Skaggs has traveled to Miamisburg on May 6 to honor the fellow soldier who saved his life during the Vietnam War.
On May 6, 1970, Gary McKiddy was killed at age 20 while rescuing Skaggs from a burning helicopter during the U.S. invasion of Cambodia that summer. Skaggs and their pilot had been trapped in the cockpit after their helicopter was shot down.
Skaggs suffered a broken leg and hip, along with second- and third-degree burns, before McKiddy was able to pull him from the wreckage. McKiddy then went back to rescue the pilot, but the helicopter exploded, killing both McKiddy and the pilot…