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…
During the brutal defense of Camp Dak Seang, Sgt. Gary Beikirch ran into withering enemy fire again and again, not to fight, but to save lives. As enemy mortars and gunfire rained down, he treated the wounded and carried them to safety. Even after being seriously wounded, he refused care…
On March 1, 1969, during a fierce battle to seize Hill 484 in Vietnam, Corporal George Jmaeff’s platoon was pinned down by sniper and grenade fire from fortified enemy bunkers. Knowing a frontal assault meant heavy casualties, Jmaeff charged alone into enemy fire, destroying a bunker even after being seriously…
On July 9, 1943, during the Allied invasion of Sicily, a smoke pot accidentally ignited aboard a landing craft filled with explosives, fuses, and ammunition. Realizing that the fire could detonate the entire boat and compromise the mission, Ensign John Parle rushed into the smoke and flames. He smothered a…
On a combat mission over Vietnam, Sgt John Levitow’s AC-47 gunship was rocked by a mortar explosion, ripping a hole through the aircraft and wounding the entire crew. Amid the chaos, a live flare rolled loose, threatening to ignite inside the aircraft. Despite suffering over 40 shrapnel wounds and losing…
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…
From March 31 to April 3, 1967, Major James Capers Jr. (2LT at the time) led a 9-man Force Recon team deep into enemy territory near Phu Loc, Vietnam. Their mission: locate a major North Vietnamese base camp and support nearby Marine units. Surrounded and repeatedly engaged by larger enemy…
On August 1, 1943, during Operation Tidal Wave, Col Leon Johnson led his bomb group in a bold low-level strike on the heavily defended Ploesti oil refineries in Romania. Separated from the main formation and without the element of surprise, Johnson pressed on, flying through intense anti-aircraft fire, smoke, explosions,…
In the early hours of Nov. 18, 1967, a brutal Viet Cong assault, then-private first class Charles Davis’s fire support base was nearly overrun. Knocked down by a recoilless rifle blast, surrounded by enemy fire, and burned by a blazing howitzer, Davis refused to retreat. He fired multiple shells from…
From October 30 to November 2, 1943, Captain Arleigh Burke led Destroyer Squadron 23 through uncharted, hostile waters in the Northern Solomons. Facing Japanese shore batteries, warships, and waves of enemy bombers, Burke launched aggressive daylight attacks, sinking five enemy ships and damaging four more. When 67 Japanese bombers retaliated,…
On August 28, 1969, in Vietnam, Lance Corporal José F. Jiménez led from the front when his unit was ambushed by North Vietnamese forces in hidden positions. With fearless determination, he charged forward alone, destroying enemy troops and silencing an antiaircraft gun. Encouraging his fellow Marines, LCpl Jiménez pressed on…
In September 2014, Senior Airman Dustin Temple faced a relentless 48-hour battle in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Surrounded by insurgents, he called in 75 danger close airstrikes, dragged a wounded teammate to safety under sniper fire, and sprinted through open terrain under machine gun fire to rescue a fellow soldier and…
On July 3, 1863, at the height of the Battle of Gettysburg, Union artillery officer 1st Lt. Alonzo H. Cushing stood his ground on Cemetery Ridge. Wounded twice, first in the shoulder, then the abdomen, he refused evacuation, insisting on commanding his guns through Pickett’s Charge. Gravely injured, Cushing continued…
On June 11, 1928, a deadly boiler accident rocked the USS Bruce at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. Without hesitation, MM William Huber rushed into a steam-filled fireroom, fully aware it could kill him. Through blinding heat and searing pain, he carried a fellow sailor to safety. Despite suffering severe burns…
On May 10, 1970, in Se San, Cambodia, Specialist Four Leslie Sabo Jr. and his platoon were ambushed from all sides. With no hesitation, Sabo charged enemy positions, drawing fire and forcing the enemy to retreat. When a grenade landed near a wounded comrade, Sabo picked it up, threw it…