BlackJack 33 Club

---

As a young boy, throughout my youth and into adulthood, I was well acquainted with the legend of my uncle, James Gordon Williams. He lost his life in 1967, five years before my birth, but I affectionately knew him as Uncle Jimmy. Photos of him, especially a large 36” x 24” portrait, adorned my Aunt Betty’s home, regardless of where she lived. Uncle Jimmy was a Green Beret with the 5th Special Forces Group during the Vietnam War. The portrait depicted him in OD green fatigues, standing boldly with his fists on his hips, wearing aviator sunglasses, a sly, confident grin, and his Green Beret. To me, he was nothing less than a hero of epic proportions. From an early age, I wanted to be him.

After years of both good and bad decisions, I joined the Army with a distinct goal: to become a Green Beret like my hero, Uncle Jimmy. I graduated from the Special Forces Qualification Course in November 2004. As a new 18 Bravo, still in language school, I often visited the Airborne and Special Operations Museum in downtown Fayetteville, NC. The museum was relatively new at the time, and it was fantastic. I loved being surrounded by all the history. Thanks to the magic of the internet, I discovered a comprehensive database of Special Forces soldiers who had been killed in the Vietnam War. This allowed me to learn details about my uncle’s death, including when and where it occurred, and the name of the operation he was involved in when he was killed.

One average day, while on a typical walk around the museum, I stopped by the gift shop to browse the book selection. I saw a book on the shelf called "Blackjack 33," which sparked my attention because that was the name of the operation on which Jimmy died. I picked up the book and skimmed through it until, like opening a Christmas present as a child, I found a firsthand account of my uncle in action and his heroic death. Though it may seem grim, I was ecstatic. I now knew what no one in my family had known for 37 years. Naturally, I bought several copies of the book and shared the story with my family.

The Blackjack 33 challenge coin is a small gesture to commemorate a fallen hero and my uncle, Jimmy Williams, and to bring light to the story of Operation Blackjack 33 as written by Jim Donohue.