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,…
During a fierce battle in Vietnam, John Baker Jr., a PFC at the time, displayed extraordinary heroism under relentless enemy fire. When his unit came under heavy attack, he led the charge, taking out enemy bunkers and sniper positions. Even after being wounded by a grenade, he continued the assault…
1st Lt. Henry Commiskey led a fearless assault on Hill 85 during the Korean War, charging ahead of his platoon under intense enemy fire. Armed only with a pistol, he singlehandedly took out an enemy machine-gun crew, wrestled one soldier to the ground, and secured a weapon to finish the…
During a fierce firefight in Vietnam on March 16, 1966, combat medic Alfred Rascon, a specialist 4 at the time, repeatedly risked his life to save his fellow soldiers. Under intense machine gun and grenade fire, he used his own body to shield wounded men, dragged them to safety, recovered…
On Aug. 18, 1943, Major Ralph Cheli was leading a dive-bombing mission over New Guinea in WWII when his plane was hit and engulfed in flames. Rather than abandon the attack to save himself, he chose to stay with his squadron, leading them through a successful strike on the heavily…
In the early hours of Feb. 23, 1969, during a brutal firefight in Vietnam, PFC Oscar P. Austin, a U.S. Marine and assistant machine gunner, found his observation post under fierce attack by a large North Vietnamese force. As grenades exploded and bullets rained down, he spotted a wounded Marine…
On December 8, 2012, Navy SEAL Nicolas Checque was part of a Joint Task Force sent to do the impossible: rescue an American hostage being held by a heavily armed Taliban force in Afghanistan. When a Taliban guard spotted the approaching rescue team and ran to alert the others, Petty…
Robert Howard (then Sergeant First Class) was deep in enemy-held territory on a mission to rescue a missing American soldier when his platoon was ambushed by a vastly superior enemy force in Vietnam on Dec. 30, 1968. Wounded by a grenade and left weaponless, Howard saw his platoon leader lying…
During a fierce firefight in Vietnam, Gary Wetzel, a private first class at the time, of the 173rd Assault Helicopter Company showed unimaginable bravery and grit in the face of death. While serving as a door gunner aboard a helicopter trapped in a landing zone under intense enemy fire, Wetzel…
In October 1962, as the world stood on the brink of nuclear war, Major Rudolf Anderson of the U.S. Air Force undertook one of the most dangerous assignments imaginable, flying unarmed, unescorted U-2 reconnaissance missions over Cuba. During these high-altitude flights, Major Anderson captured the critical photographic proof of Soviet…
In the dark of night on December 8, 2012, Navy SEAL Chief Edward C. Byers Jr. was part of a high-stakes hostage rescue mission deep in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. As his team approached the target building, an enemy sentry spotted them, setting off a fierce firefight. Chief Byers, the primary breacher,…
While leading his squad in an assault on a fortified Viet Cong position, Sgt. Robert O’Malley, than a corporal, charged across an open rice paddy, leapt into an enemy trench, and killed 8 enemy fighters alone. Wounded three times, he refused evacuation. Instead, he led his men to assist another…
On February 3, 1942, near Bagac in Bataan, the Philippines, 1st Lt. Willibald Bianchi volunteered to lead an assault on two enemy machine-gun nests. Shot twice through the hand, he refused first aid, grabbed a pistol, and took out one of the nests with grenades. Then, hit again in the…
On October 12, 1967, during Operation MEDINA in Vietnam, Marine Combat Photographer Cpl. William Perkins Jr. was documenting intense combat when a grenade landed near him and three fellow Marines. Without hesitation, he shouted “Incoming grenade!” and threw himself on it, sacrificing his life to save theirs. Though he came…