On April 22, 1966, Captain Charles Boyd volunteered for a dangerous mission over North Vietnam, his 105th combat flight. Flying an F-105 Thunderchief into one of the most heavily defended areas in the world, he evaded two missiles on his first pass and made a second attack run before being…
While advancing with his company during a battle on Leyte in the Philippines, PFC George Benjamin Jr. saw a rifle platoon falter under heavy Japanese fire. Carrying only a pistol and a bulky radio, he charged across open terrain to rally them forward. Charging into a storm of bullets, he…
During the fierce naval battle off Savo Island in November 1942, Lt. Commander Bruce McCandless found himself suddenly in command of the USS San Francisco after enemy fire killed or wounded nearly all senior officers aboard, including the admiral and ship’s captain. Wounded himself, McCandless regained consciousness, took control, and…
During the brutal Meuse-Argonne Offensive of World War I, Captain Alexander Skinker of the 138th Infantry made the ultimate sacrifice. When his men were pinned down by heavy German machine-gun fire, he refused to order a frontal assault. Instead, he personally led a small team toward an enemy pillbox. After…
From April 30 to May 2, 1968, Captain Jay Vargas led Company G through one of the fiercest battles of the Vietnam War. Wounded early in the fighting, he continued leading his Marines in an assault across 700 meters of open terrain under intense enemy fire. Despite being wounded again…
On July 2, 1968, after three helicopters were driven off by intense enemy fire, Coast Guard Lt. Lance Eagan flew his HH-3E Jolly Green Giant straight into a heavily defended jungle to rescue downed Air Force pilot Lt Col Jack Modica. Despite taking over 40 rounds of enemy fire, Eagan…
On April 5, 1970, Sergeant Brian Buker of Detachment B-55, 5th Special Forces Group, led a Vietnamese mobile strike force in an assault on an enemy mountain fortress in Vietnam. After breaking through a strategic mountain pass, his unit was pinned down by intense fire from two fortified bunkers. Refusing…
On April 15, 1945, during the battle for Okinawa, PFC Harold Gonsalves served as a scout sergeant with the 15th Marines. As his unit advanced on the fiercely defended Mount Yaetake, Gonsalves braved relentless enemy fire to help direct artillery strikes. When a Japanese grenade suddenly landed near his team,…
During a fierce night assault on Hill 284 in Korea, Corporal Jerry Crump's platoon was overrun by a much larger enemy force. Despite the chaos, Crump repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire, inflicting heavy casualties. When two enemy soldiers tried to seize a friendly machine gun, he charged and killed…
Amidst the brutal fighting on Iwo Jima, Navy Pharmacist Second Class George Wahlen risked everything to save his fellow Marines. Already wounded days earlier, he refused evacuation and continued treating the injured under relentless enemy fire. Even after being wounded a second and third time, Wahlen crawled through deadly terrain…
In Vietnam on September 6, 1967, Sgt. Rodney Davis displayed extraordinary heroism. As his unit came under intense fire from a larger North Vietnamese force, Davis moved fearlessly through a trench line, encouraging his men and returning fire. When a grenade landed among them, he threw himself on it without…
On May 15, 1918, deep in the trenches of the Western Front, Private Henry Johnson of the famed Harlem Hellfighters faced a brutal surprise attack from a 12-man German raiding party. Severely wounded and outnumbered, Johnson fought back with unmatched bravery. With his rifle jammed and bullets flying, Johnson used…
On November 2, 1944, during a bombing mission over Germany, 2nd Lt. Robert Femoyer’s B-17 bomber was struck by three enemy anti-aircraft shells. As the navigator, he was gravely wounded by shrapnel to the back and side, but refused morphine so he could stay alert and guide his crew to…
In 1972, Air Force Captain Charles DeBellevue made history from the back seat of an F-4 Phantom. As a Weapons Systems Officer with the legendary 555th “Triple Nickel” Squadron, DeBellevue helped guide his pilots into combat against North Vietnam’s deadly MiGs and emerged as the war’s leading U.S. ace. He…
On May 2, 1968, Green Beret SSG Roy Benavidez heard a Special Forces team was pinned down deep in the Vietnam jungle. He didn’t hesitate. With no backup and under intense enemy fire, he jumped from a helicopter, ran 75 meters through gunfire, and fought for six brutal hours to…
During WWII, Lt. Louis Curdes flew into the history books. Not only by shooting down German, Italian, and Japanese aircraft, but also a U.S. C-47 transport plane. Why? On February 10, 1945, he spotted the American plane about to mistakenly land at a Japanese-controlled airstrip in the Philippines. Unable to…
On March 19, 1945, as Japanese aircraft launched a devastating attack on the USS Franklin near Kobe, Japan, Navy chaplain Lt. Cmdr. Joseph T. O'Callahan sprang into action. Explosions rocked the ship, fires raged, and bombs rolled across the deck, yet O’Callahan moved through smoke and flame to tend to…
During the brutal defense of the U.S. base at Hagaru-ri, Major Myers took command of a composite force of 250 Marines and soldiers. Facing an estimated 4,000 enemy troops, he fearlessly led his undertrained and outnumbered men up a snow-covered slope under relentless fire. Over 14 hours of savage combat,…
On April 6, 2008, deep in the mountains of Afghanistan, U.S. Army Green Beret Sergeant Matthew Williams displayed extraordinary courage that would earn him the Medal of Honor. As his Special Forces team came under heavy fire from machine guns, snipers, and RPGs, the lead element was pinned down and…
USMC Sgt. Ross F. Gray displayed unimaginable courage on Iwo Jima. When his platoon was pinned down by a deadly barrage of enemy grenades, Gray took action alone. Crawling through intense machine-gun fire, he cleared a path through a minefield, then launched a one-man assault on a series of heavily…
In the dead of night over North Vietnam on June 19, 1968, LTJG Clyde E. Lassen risked everything to save two fellow aviators trapped on a jungle-covered hill and surrounded by enemy forces. Lassen braved intense enemy fire, near crashes, and the loss of all illumination multiple times to complete…
In 1943, a B-24 bomber called Lady Be Good vanished after a mission over Italy. Fifteen years later, it was found deep in the Sahara Desert, nearly intact, with no crew in sight. A diary discovered in the co-pilot’s pocket revealed the heartbreaking truth: the men had bailed out, unaware…
Captain Gerald Young displayed extraordinary heroism as a helicopter rescue crew commander during a daring night mission in Vietnam. After previous rescue attempts had failed—costing two helicopters—Captain Young refused to abandon the remaining soldiers trapped on a steep hillside under intense enemy fire. Despite overwhelming danger and low support, he…
Lt. Aleda Lutz was one of the few WWII nurses qualified to serve as flight nurses, risking her life flying into combat zones to rescue the wounded. Over 20 months, she completed more evacuation missions than any other nurse, serving bravely in North Africa, Italy, and France. On November 1,…