On October 3, 1918, during the Battle of Blanc Mont Ridge in World War I, Marine Corporal John Pruitt of the 6th Marine Regiment saw his unit’s assault stall under heavy machine-gun and artillery fire. He charged alone. Pruitt attacked two enemy machine-gun positions, capturing the guns and killing two…
On August 1, 1952, during the Korean War, Corporal Victor Espinoza of the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division led a one-man assault on Old Baldy. With his unit pinned down by devastating enemy fire, Espinoza charged forward alone—destroying a machine-gun position, knocking out a mortar, and eliminating…
On May 8, 1942, during the Battle of the Coral Sea, Lieutenant Milton Ernest Ricketts was serving aboard the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown as officer-in-charge of the Engineering Repair Party. When Japanese bombs struck the ship, one tore through the deck and exploded beneath his compartment—killing or wounding nearly all…
On September 12, 1951, during the Korean War, Second Lieutenant George Ramer of 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines led an assault against heavily fortified enemy positions atop a steep hill. Under relentless small-arms, mortar, and machine-gun fire, Ramer and most of his platoon were wounded during the climb. He kept advancing.…
On November 30, 1950, during the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir, Corporal Celestino Chavez Jr. was manning an M-19 twin 40mm gun with the 7th Infantry Division in Korea. When Chinese forces launched a fierce assault in the early morning hours, Chavez was seriously wounded. Despite attempts to evacuate him,…
On November 13, 1968, in Vietnam, Staff Sergeant Laszlo Rabel of the 173rd Airborne Brigade was leading Team Delta during a reconnaissance mission along enemy trail networks. While positioned in a defensive perimeter, enemy movement was detected. Moments later, a grenade landed inside their position. Without hesitation, SSG Rabel threw…
On September 1, 1968, over North Vietnam, Lieutenant Colonel William Jones III led four A-1H Skyraiders in an attempt to rescue a downed American pilot. Flying through intense anti-aircraft fire, his aircraft was repeatedly hit. On one pass, flames engulfed the cockpit after a round struck the extraction system behind…
On May 28, 1982, during the Falklands War, Lieutenant Colonel Herbert “H” Jones was commanding 2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment (2 Para) in the assault on Argentine positions at Darwin and Goose Green. Advancing against well-entrenched defenses along a critical ridge, his battalion was pinned down by at least eleven…
Unbelievable courage, sacrifice, and a surprising act of mercy. In this special compilation, we bring together five of the most incredible stories from World War II. From the dense jungles of the Pacific to the frozen battlefields of Europe, these men defined what it means to go "above and beyond."…
On June 14, 1952, during the Korean War, Sergeant David Bleak was serving as a field medic with the 2nd Battalion, 223rd Infantry, 40th Infantry Division when he volunteered for a reconnaissance patrol into hostile territory. As the patrol climbed a rugged hill, they were hit with intense enemy fire,…
On the night of September 12–13, 1944, in France, Second Lieutenant Almond Fisher of Company E, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division led a pre-dawn assault against a heavily fortified German hill position. When his platoon was hit by machine-gun fire from less than 20 yards away, Lt. Fisher crawled…
On June 8, 1945, during the Battle of Okinawa, Hospital Apprentice First Class Fred Lester was serving as a Navy corpsman attached to the 1st Battalion, 22nd Marines, 6th Marine Division. After a fierce assault on a heavily defended Japanese hill, Lester saw a wounded Marine lying exposed beyond the…
Honoring Our Veterans | Duty & Valor Challenge Coin This limited-run challenge coin was created for one purpose—to give back to those who have given everything. The Honoring Our Veterans coin is proudly minted in the USA and designed to represent the mission of Duty & Valor: preserving the stories…
On November 11, 2004, during the Second Battle of Fallujah, Marine Corps Sergeant Aubrey McDade Jr. was serving as a Machine Gun Squad Leader with Company B, 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, 1st Marine Division. Moments after entering a narrow alley, his platoon was ambushed by intense small-arms and machine-gun fire.…
On February 26–27, 1945, during the brutal Battle of Iwo Jima, Marine Private Wilson Watson of the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division faced relentless Japanese fire from fortified positions hidden among rocky ridges. When his squad was pinned down, Watson charged a pillbox alone, firing directly into its…
On May 22, 1941, during the Battle of Crete, Charles Upham, a second lieutenant at the time, led his platoon against deeply entrenched German forces. Again and again, he advanced alone under heavy fire—destroying machine-gun positions with grenades and a pistol, rescuing wounded soldiers, and crossing 600 yards of enemy-held…
On October 31, 1967, during an airmobile assault in Vietnam, Captain Riley Pitts led Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division into intense enemy fire the moment they touched down. Viet Cong forces opened up with automatic weapons, but CPT Pitts immediately led a counterassault, overrunning their initial…
On August 16, 2017, in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan, Daniel Keller, a staff sergeant at the time, was serving as a Joint Terminal Attack Controller with a combined joint special operations assault force during a clearance operation against approximately 350 ISIS fighters. After fifteen hours of intense combat, a house-borne IED…
On May 31, 1916, during the Battle of Jutland, 16-year-old Jack Travers Cornwell was serving aboard the Royal Navy light cruiser HMS Chester. Holding the rank of Boy 1st Class, Cornwell served as a sight-setter on a gun crew when the ship came under heavy fire from four German cruisers.…
Before he became America’s “Ace of Aces,” Eddie Rickenbacker was a race car driver who understood speed and danger—but the skies over France in World War I were something else entirely. When the United States entered WWI, Rickenbacker went to Europe as a driver. He lacked a college education and…
On April 11, 1945, during the Battle of Okinawa, the battleship USS Missouri was operating off the coast of Japan when radar detected incoming enemy aircraft. A Japanese Zero fighter broke through defensive fire and dove toward the ship in a kamikaze attack. Anti-aircraft gunners struck the plane, but it…
On August 28, 2013, Forward Operating Base Ghazni in Afghanistan came under a coordinated enemy assault involving vehicle-borne IEDs, suicide bombers, indirect fire, and small-arms attacks. Staff Sergeant Michael Ollis of the 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division immediately moved to protect his soldiers—ordering them to bunkers and…
On September 14, 1968, during the Vietnam War, Staff Sergeant Terry Richardson of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 29th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, led his platoon in an assault to secure Hill 222 near the Cambodian border. Almost immediately, three soldiers were severely wounded and trapped between enemy machine-gun bunkers.…
During the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, Master Sergeant Roderick “Roddie” Edmonds of the 422nd Infantry Regiment was captured by German forces and sent to a POW camp. On January 27, 1945, the German commandant ordered Edmonds to identify all Jewish-American POWs. With a pistol pressed to his…