Captain Kenneth B. McLaughlin – Kiss Country Salutes Your Service Member

Every week, Kiss Country is making a special point to thank all those incredible men and women who have served our great country! We appreciate the sacrifices made by service personnel and their families. Tell us about your service member. Send in your story and a photo and we will share it with all of Kiss Country.

This week we salute Captain Kenneth B. McLaughlin of the U.S. Army. Captain McLaughlin's son Jason shared his story with us and Jason we'd like to thank you for your submission and it's our hope this honors your father as much as we were honored to write of his heroics!

Capt. Kenneth B. McLaughlin was my father. In 1963, he went to Vietnam where he served 2 tours of duty. As a helicopter pilot with the 129th assault helicopter company, he flew the very first US marked helicopter into Laos. In 1964, while protecting a group of helicopters that were taking fire, he survived being shot down but injured his leg when he was forced to jump from the helicopter before it crashed. One of the helicopters in that group was carrying none other than Gen. Westmoreland himself, and his heroic acts made him a candidate for the Congressional Medal of Honor. Sadly, he died in 2001 of cancer because of heavy exposure to agent orange during the war. Besides being a candidate for the CMH, he was awarded two distinguished flying crosses, the Silver star, the Bronze star, distinguished service medal, and numerous other citations. He never once spoke of these medals while I was growing up - we discovered the citations in his military records after he became ill. Capt. Kenneth B. McLaughlin was a true hero and is still my inspiration in life... - Jason McLaughlin

Salute Your Service Member