On Nov. 12 and 13, retired U.S. Army Col. Jack Jacobs will visit the CSRA. The primary purpose of his visit is to be the speaker and honored guest at a major Boy Scout fund-raiser, the Fleur de Lis Dinner. This dinner will be held in the River Rooms at St. Paul's Church on Friday, Nov. 13.

Although this dinner has been sold out for more than a month, you may still have an opportunity to meet Col. Jacobs since he graciously accepted invitations to speak at a number of other locations throughout the CSRA. He will be speaking to ten separate audiences including large audiences at Fort Gordon, the Savannah River Site and the Augusta Exchange Club.

HOWEVER, THE EVENT that is open to the general public will be at Harlem Middle School. Col. Jacobs will speak and sign books starting at 11 a.m. Friday, Nov. 13. Harlem Middle is easy to find. Just take Interstate 20 West, turn off onto route 221. Take a left on route 221. Drive 5.5 miles and take a right on West Forrest Drive. Go four-tenths of a mile and you can't miss it -- the school is on the left.

At each of these events, Jacobs will be signing and personalizing copies of his new book, If Not Now, When? He also will sign and personalize copies of Medal of Honor, by Peter Collier. In this book, which highlights the life stories of our living Medal of Honor recipients, he will sign on Page 138, where his story is told. Each of these two books will be sold at a large discount.

Jacobs has visited Augusta on a number of occasions. Quite recently, he led an NBC TV team that examined the work of the Active Duty Rehabilitation Center at the uptown VA hospital. This TV segment was aired on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, and gave national attention to the great work that VA professionals and active duty care givers are providing soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen. This TV special also highlighted the creativity of Laurie Ott as she devotes her life to helping wounded warriors and their families.

Col. Jacobs is quite easy to recognize. At 5-feet-4 and 118 pounds, he is a man of small size but great stature. On of April 9, 1968, he was badly wounded by shrapnel that tore into his head and face. Despite heavy bleeding from his head and with a piece of steel in one eye, he pulled 25 wounded soldiers off a battlefield. He earned the Medal of Honor during those agonizing, adrenalin-filled five hours.

A FEW YEARS LATER he returned to Vietnam for a second combat tour where, once again, he was wounded. The recipient of three Bronze Stars, two Purple Hearts, two Silver Stars and the Medal of Honor, Jacobs is one of the most highly decorated soldiers in American history.

After retiring from the Army, Col. Jacobs became an investment banker, an entrepreneur and a real-estate developer. More recently, he has been serving as a military analyst for NBC. For the past five years he also has served as a visiting professor at the U.S. Military Academy.

I encourage everyone to get a copy of his autobiography. It tells the story of an amazing life, does not have one word of profanity and makes a splendid, inexpensive gift, especially if it is personalized by Col. Jacobs.

Two weeks ago in Montgomery, Ala., Jacobs spoke to five separate audiences. Immediately after each talk, he personalized books. What was unexpected was people having him sign not one book but four or five. One woman with an armful of books told me, "These books will take care of most of my Christmas shopping."

Finally, for the purpose of full disclosure, I should state that Jack Jacobs, who was on the faculty of the National War College when I was the commandant of that distinguished institution in the 1980s, has been a close friend of my wife and mine for more than 26 years. He helped me when I wrote my leadership book, Rules and Tools for Leaders, and later when the DVD Twice a Hero was produced. This DVD tells the story of Augusta's hero, Jimmie Dyess.

This week we will have the opportunity to recognize and thank our veterans. We are, after all, the land of the free because of the brave. How fitting it will be when thousands of people within the CSRA salute a remarkable American: Jack Jacobs.