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…
On January 3, 2026, Chief Warrant Officer Five Eric Slover distinguished himself during a high-risk mission in Venezuela in support of Operation Absolute Resolve. As the lead pilot flying an MH-47 Chinook, he was tasked with infiltrating hostile territory through dense jungle terrain and mountainous valleys protected by Integrated Air…
On November 18, 1952, during the Korean War, Lieutenant Elmer Royce Williams launched from the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany as part of Fighter Squadron 781, flying an F9F Panther on combat air patrol over the northeastern coast of North Korea. What followed would become one of the longest and most…
On May 14–15, 1945, during the brutal Battle of Okinawa, Major Henry A. Courtney Jr. of the 2nd Battalion, 22nd Marines, 6th Marine Division, faced entrenched Japanese forces near Sugar Loaf Hill. After hours of fierce fighting, his depleted battalion was ordered to hold position overnight. But Major Courtney knew…
On December 7, 1941, as Japanese forces launched their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Ensign Herbert Jones was serving aboard the battleship USS California. When enemy bombs struck the ship, the mechanical hoists that supplied ammunition to the anti-aircraft guns were knocked out. With the vessel burning and under relentless…
On October 29, 1963, during the Vietnam War, Captain Humbert “Rocky” Versace, a U.S. Army Special Forces adviser with the Military Assistance Advisory Group and 5th Special Forces Group, faced overwhelming enemy fire while accompanying a Civilian Irregular Defense Group patrol. When a heavily armed Viet Cong battalion launched a…
On July 31, 1943, during the brutal fighting on New Georgia in the Solomon Islands, Private Rodger Young of the 148th Infantry Regiment, 37th Infantry Division, faced overwhelming enemy fire in dense jungle terrain. When his platoon was pinned down by a concealed Japanese machine gun just 75 yards away,…
On April 11, 1970, near Da Nang, Vietnam, Marine LCPL Emilio De La Garza Jr. faced a split-second decision that would define his legacy forever. While apprehending an enemy soldier, a grenade pin was pulled. Without a moment's hesitation, De La Garza threw himself between the blast and his fellow…
On Nov. 8, 1967, Air Force Sgt. Larry Maysey, a pararescueman with the 37th ARRS, took part in a daring nighttime rescue in Laos to save a trapped Special Forces team. Despite heavy enemy fire that had already downed two other helicopters, Maysey’s crew aboard "Jolly 26" pushed into the…
On Nov. 8, 1967, Air Force Sgt. Larry Maysey, a pararescueman with the 37th ARRS, took part in a daring nighttime rescue in Laos to save a trapped Special Forces team. Despite heavy enemy fire that had already downed two other helicopters, Maysey’s crew aboard "Jolly 26" pushed into the…
On September 26, 1944, Second Lieutenant Mary Louise Hawkins, a flight nurse with the 801st Medical Air Evacuation Squadron, was aboard a C-47 Skytrain transporting wounded Marines from Palau to Guadalcanal when disaster struck. The aircraft ran out of fuel and crash-landed on Bellona Island in the Solomon Islands. In…
On September 26, 1944, Second Lieutenant Mary Louise Hawkins, a flight nurse with the 801st Medical Air Evacuation Squadron, was aboard a C-47 Skytrain transporting wounded Marines from Palau to Guadalcanal when disaster struck. The aircraft ran out of fuel and crash-landed on Bellona Island in the Solomon Islands. In…
On November 29, 1950, during the brutal fighting at the Chosin Reservoir, Lieutenant Colonel John Page was sent from X Corps Headquarters to help manage traffic along the main supply route. He had every reason to return to safety. He chose not to. Instead, he remained with surrounded Marines and…
On November 29, 1950, during the brutal fighting at the Chosin Reservoir, Lieutenant Colonel John Page was sent from X Corps Headquarters to help manage traffic along the main supply route. He had every reason to return to safety. He chose not to. Instead, he remained with surrounded Marines and…
On June 9–10, 1944, near Goville, France, Walter David Ehlers proved what frontline leadership truly looks like. Serving as a Staff Sergeant with the 3rd Battalion, 18th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division, Ehlers repeatedly placed himself at the point of attack during the Allied push through Normandy. When advances stalled under…