Medal of Honor recipient Jimmy Goethel Stewart (December 25, 1942 – May 18, 1966) was born in West Columbia, Mason County. He grew up across the Ohio River in Middleport, Ohio, where he was raised by his mother, Ethel, and stepfather, Delmar Logan.

After graduating high school in 1960, Stewart enlisted in the Army at Ashland, Kentucky. He was shipped with the 3^rd Infantry Division to West Germany, where he met his wife, Gertrude. They had two children, Robert and John.

In 1965, he joined Company B of the 2nd Battalion, 12^th Calvary Regiment, 1^st Air Cavalry Division. As the Army’s first airmobile unit, the 1^st Air Cavalry specialized in helicopter combat during the Vietnam War.

Early on the morning of May 18, 1966, a large North Vietnamese force attacked Staff Sergeant Stewart’s company. In one six-man squad, five soldiers were immediately wounded. Stewart was the only one left able to fight. Even though he had a chance to pull back when the shooting slowed down, he stayed to protect his wounded comrades and stop the North Vietnamese from breaking through the company’s lines.

As the attack continued, he fought bravely, firing repeatedly at the advancing soldiers and throwing back live grenades. He crawled through heavy gunfire to reach his wounded squad members and gathered their ammunition. For four hours and through three separate attacks, he held his position. Because of his actions, the company was able to hold its ground until more U.S. soldiers arrived and pushed the enemy back.

After the battle, Stewart was found dead in a shallow enemy foxhole. He had moved forward to continue fighting alongside the soldiers who had come to help. The wounded soldiers he had protected were safely rescued.

His family was presented with his Medal of Honor at a ceremony at the Pentagon on August 24, 1967. He is buried in Middleport Cemetery.

In 1968, the Army named Fort Benning training area Stewart Field in his honor. In 2011, a bridge connecting Mason in Mason County with Pomeroy in Meigs County, Ohio, was renamed the Sgt. Jimmy G. Stewart Bridge. The bridge is about three miles from his birthplace and two miles from where he grew up in Middleport. In 2024, a statue of Stewart, by sculptor Chad Fisher, was dedicated beside the bride at the Mason County Veterans Memorial.