The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed on a member of the United States armed forces who distinguishes himself “conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States.” Because of the nature of its criteria, the medal is often awarded posthumously.
In one of the most awe-inspiring displays of reckless bravery WWII has to offer the history books, Cmdr. Evans, three-fourths Cherokee from Oklahoma, led his destroyer, the USS Johnston, straight into the face of a gargantuan Japanese naval fleet, on 25 October 1944, off Samar Island, in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
He was part of a very small fleet designed to support the marines currently assaulting Leyte. This fleet had 3 destroyers, very small ships, 4 destroyer escorts, even smaller, and 6 escort carriers, with only about 30 planes each. The fleet was not expecting a naval engagement because Adm. Halsey’s much larger fleet was supposed to be guarding the north flank. Halsey, however, had gone after another Japanese fleet and left the flank open.
Down came another Japanese fleet intent on destroying the marines on Leyte. Task Unit 77.4.3 (Taffy 3) initially tried to flee the area when confronted by such massive force. Evans, however, refused to yield to the enemy. As soon as the Johnston sighted the enemy, Evans came over the intercom, “A large Japanese fleet has been contacted. They are fifteen miles away and headed in our direction. They are believed to have four battleships, eight cruisers, and a number of destroyers. This will be a fight against overwhelming odds from which survival cannot be expected. We will do what damage we can.”
He ordered the Johnston to come about and attack at flank speed, charging the entire fleet alone. When Adm. Sprague, in charge of Taffy 3, saw this, he laughed and said, “Well, what the hell. You gotta die of something. Small boys attack.”
The rest of the destroyers and destroyer escorts turned and followed the Johnston, and the Japanese opened fire with 18.1 inch guns, 16 inch guns, 14 inch guns, 8 and 6 inch guns, blasting up the water on both sides of the Johnston. Astoundingly, Evans conned the ship through the splashes in a zigzag until he was within range with his 5 inch guns, which could not penetrate the hulls of the IJN’s battleships and cruisers. He ordered fire concentrated on the upper decks to do the most damage, and this succeeded in knocking down the superstructures and setting the ships afire.
Then the Johnston fired torpedoes and blew the bow off the Kumano, a heavy cruiser, which necessitated another cruiser leaving the fight to assist evacuation. Finally, the Japanese scored hits, a 14 incher, and three 6 inchers, which went clean through the entire vessel without detonating. The first knocked out half the engine power and the electricity to the aft gun turrets.
Evans was struck by one of the blasts and had 2 fingers ripped from his left hand and his shirt burned off.
The Johnston was crippled, but still refused to withdraw and set out a smoke screen. The other destroyers and escorts arrived and every man was consigned to death in order to enable the escort carriers to escape.
By the time it was over, the Johnston had slugged it out with titanic battleships and cruisers, and a line of 4 IJN destroyers, driving the latter off, until another salvo knocked the engine out and detonated several 5 inch shells in the forward magazine.
The Johnston was dead in the water and the IJN surrounded it and fired from all sides. Incredibly, Evans refused to order “abandon ship” until all remaining rounds had been fired, even the starbusts, which are like flares, and the sandbag rounds for practice. When the Japanese passed the survivors in the water, they threw them food and water and saluted them, shouting, “Samurai! Samurai!”
Evans was not among the survivors pulled from the water after the battle. His fate is unknown. He may have been eaten by sharks.
One of the more darkly humorous episodes of warfare occurred on 29 January 1945, in Holzheim, Belgium. Funk and his paratroopers were assaulting the town, and he left a rearguard of 4 men, while he scouted ahead to link up with other units, Those 4 men had to guard about 80 German prisoners.
Another German patrol of 10 happened by and overwhelmed the 4 Americans, freeing the prisoners and arming them. When Funk returned around the corner of a building, he was met by a German officer with an MP-40 in his stomach. The German shouted something at him, and Funk looked around.
There were now about 90 Germans, about half of them armed, and 5 Americans, disarmed except for Funk. The German shouted the same thing at him again, and Funk started laughing. He claimed later that he tried to stop laughing, but the fact that the German was shouting in German touched a nerve. Funk didn’t speak German. Neither did any of the other Americans. Why would the German officer expect him to understand?
His laughter and non-compliance caused some of the Germans to start laughing. Funk shrugged at them and started laughing so hard he had to bend over. He called to his men, “I don’t understand what he’s saying!” All the while, the German officer was shouting more and more angrily.
Then, quick as lightning, Funk swung his Thompson submachine gun up and emptied the entire clip into the German, 30 rounds of .45 ACP. Before the other Germans could react, he had yanked the clip out and slammed another in and opened fire on all of them, screaming to his men to pick up weapons. They did so, and proceeded to gun down 20 men. The rest dropped their weapons and put their hands up.
Then Funk started laughing again and said to his men, “That was the stupidest fucking thing I’ve ever seen!”
One of the hardest fights the Allies had in Europe was outside Aachen, Germany, the Battle of Crucifix Hill. The crucifix is still there, now a monument to the battle. Brown was placed in charge of Company C, with about 120 men, assigned to take the hill or die trying. The entire American force on the hill was a full regiment of about 500. They were facing an equal number of well entrenched Germans. If the hill was not taken, the Allies could not encircle Aachen. The Germans could pour down artillery on the entire town.
There were at least 43 pillboxes and bunkers, bristling with machine guns and plenty of men. Company C was assigned pillboxes 17, 18, 19, 20, 26, 29, and 30. The worst of these was 20, with a 360 degree turret on top armed with an 88 mm cannon. The walls were 6 feet of steel reinforced concrete.
After crawling 150 yards under heavy enemy fire to 18 and blowing it up with a satchel charge, Brown crawled again through heavy enemy fire, 35 yards to 19, and several mortar rounds landed around him, knocking him down. He got back up, climbed on top of the bunker and dropped a bangalore torpedo through a hole in the roof. This blew a larger hole, into which he dropped a satchel, and destroyed the emplacement.
20, however, had 45 men and 6 machine guns aimed out around it. When he returned for more demolition, his sergeant told him, “There’s bullet holes in your canteen.” He had been hit in the hip and was bleeding profusely. He crawled down a communications trench 20 yards from 19 to 20, and saw a German entering a steel door in the side. Brown was an ex-boxer, and knocked this man out with one swing, through him inside, and then threw 2 in satchel charges, and ran.
20 exploded so violently that flames flew out the top and caught a tree on fire. Brown personally led his men on a path of destruction through the rest of their assignments, and after an hour of tooth-and-nail fighting, Crucifix Hill was reduced to smoking rubble.
Brown shot himself in 1971, plagued ever since the war with bad memories and pain from his wounds.
On 2 May 1968, 12 Green Berets were surrounded near Loc Ninh, South Vietnam, by an entire battalion of NVA. They were thus outnumbered, 12 men versus about 1,000. They dug in and tried to hold them off, but were not going to last long. Benavidez heard their distress call over a radio in town and boarded a rescue helicopter with first aid equipment. He did not have time to grab a weapon before the helicopter left, so he voluntarily jumped into the hot LZ armed only with his knife.
He sprinted across 75 meters of open terrain through withering small arms and machine gun fire to reach the pinned down MACV-SOG team. By the time he reached them, he had been shot 4 times, twice in the right leg, once through both cheeks, which knocked out four molars, and a glancing shot off his head.
He ignored these wounds and began administering first aid. The rescue chopper left as it was not designed to extract men. An extraction chopper was sent for, and Benavidez took command of the men by directing their fire around the edges of the clearing in order to facilitate the chopper’s landing. When the aircraft arrived, he supervised the loading of the wounded on board, while throwing smoke canisters to direct the chopper’s exact landing. He was wounded severely and at all times under heavy enemy crossfire, but still carried and dragged half of the wounded men to the chopper.
He then ran alongside the landing skids providing protective fire into the trees as the chopper moved across the LZ collecting the wounded. The enemy fire got worse, and Benavidez was hit solidly in the left shoulder. He got back up and ran to the platoon leader, dead in the open, and retrieved classified documents. He was shot in the abdomen, and a grenade detonated nearby peppering his back with shrapnel.
The chopper pilot was mortally wounded then, and his chopper crashed. Benavidez was in extremely critical condition, and still refused to fall. He ran to the wreckage and got the wounded out of the aircraft, and arranged them into a defensive perimeter to wait for the next chopper. The enemy automatic rifle fire and grenades only intensified, and Benavidez ran and crawled around the perimeter giving out water and ammunition.
The NVA was building up to wipe them out, and Benavidez called in tactical air strikes with a squawk box and threw smoke to direct the fire of arriving gunships. Just before the extraction chopper landed, he was shot again in the left thigh while giving first aid to a wounded man. He still managed to get to his feet and carry some of the men to the chopped, directing the others, when an NVA soldier rushed from the woods and clubbed him over the head with an AK-47. This caused a skull fracture and a deep gash to his left upper arm, and yet he still got back up and decapitated the soldier with one swing of his knife, severing the spine and all tissue on one side of the neck. He then resumed carrying the wounded to the chopper and returning for others, and was shot twice more in the lower back. He shot two more NVA soldiers trying to board the chopper, then made one last trip around the LZ to be sure all documents were retrieved, and finally boarded the chopper. He had lost 2 quarts of blood. Before he blacked out, he shouted to one of the other Green Berets, “Another great day to be in South Vietnam!”
This battle lasted six hours. He had been wounded 37 times.
The first Medal of Honor recipient for actions during the battle of Iwo Jima, Stein charged right into the thickest parts of the fray on D-Day, with the 1st Battalion, 28th Reg., 5th Marines Div. in the assault across the narrowest part of the island, in order to cut off Mount Suribachi from the rest.
He was armed with a homemade .50 caliber machine gun that he salvaged from a downed American aircraft on another island. He fired this from the hip as he charged across the volcanic plains, and engaged the enemy at every pillbox and bunker that he saw shooting at him.
He was observed far ahead of the rest of his men, following, not fleeing, the dust-spots of machine gun fire all around him, disappearing and reappearing in mortar explosions, sprinting and firing at them face to face.
He deliberately stood upright from cover to draw enemy fire to him and away from pinned down marines, and to ascertain enemy locations, then charged them and killed 20 enemy soldiers before he ran out of ammunition. His weapon fired 100 rounds in 5 seconds.
He took off his helmet and boots, then ran back down to the beach to rearm, then returned and resumed fighting. He did this 8 times, and on every trip back to the beach, he picked up a wounded man and carried him on his shoulders. He destroyed at least 14 enemy installations on the first day of action.
He was killed almost 2 weeks later on a scouting mission, by a sniper, after having been given leave from the island, and then returning when he heard how hard a time his buddies were having.
When told about Stein afterward, Joe Rosenthal, who took the famous flag-raising picture on Suribachi, said, “Running through bullets and not getting hit is like running through rain and not getting wet!”
Thomas Baker personally shot 12 Japanese soldiers manning a machine gun behind his lines on Saipan. This was several days after he ran ahead of his men into the open fire of a pillbox, and fired a bazooka into it. Right after he killed those 12 men, he ran farther back to occupy a rearguard position for his men as they advanced across open terrain. He surprised a group of 6 enemy soldiers concealed and waiting to ambush the next group of Americans to pass. He shot all 6 dead.
Almost 3 weeks later, as the Battle of Saipan was drawing to an end, the Japanese staged a last-ditch banzai attack, the largest of the war, at night, and Baker’s perimeter was beset on 3 sides by at least 3,000 drunken, screaming soldiers. There may have been 5,000.
He dug into a foxhole and shot down scores of them until his ammunition was exhausted, by which time he had been shot in the abdomen. He then destroyed his rifle by using it as a baseball bat against a dozen more.
Another marine ran to rescue him and carry him back. He had gotten about 50 yards when a Japanese soldier shot the rescuer dead. Baker shot the Japanese dead with the rescuer’s rifle. A second marine arrived to help him, but Baker shoved him away, shouting, “Get away from me! I’ve caused enough problems! Gimme your .45!”
The marine handed it to him and propped him against a tree and fled. A third marine passed some time later and offered to help him, but Baker refused. When they found him the next morning, he lay dead against the tree in a pool of blood, his pistol empty, and 8 dead Japanese soldiers around him.
S/Sg Bob Howard is the closest anyone has ever gotten to 3 Medals of Honor for 3 separate actions. He was a Green Beret of the highly classified Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG), and his men engaged in black ops all over North Vietnam, and into Cambodia at a time when these actions were very sensitive to world opinion of the United States.
This is why his first two actions were downgraded to the Distinguished Service Cross: the government did not want to draw attention to the MACV-SOG. His Medal of Honor finally came because of a rescue mission he led into Cambodia to find Pfc. Robert Scherdin. Howard was a Sfc. at the time, and after his platoon left the cover of its helicopter, it was attacked by 2 companies of NVA, about 300 men.
Howard took shrapnel to the fronts of his legs and forearms from a grenade, and his rifle was blown to pieces out of his hands. When he sat up he saw his platoon leader seriously wounded and exposed to fire, and proceeded to crawl through withering machine gun and small arms fire. As he administered first aid, a bullet blew one of his ammunition pouches off his belt, detonating several magazines of M-16 rounds.
He still crawled back with the wounded platoon leader, then crawled among his buddies administering first aid, and directing their fire to better places. This lasted for 3 and a half hours, until they actually fought the NVA off and permitted the arrival of two more helicopters. Howard refused to leave until everyone was aboard, all the while taking heavy enemy fire from within the jungle.
Howard was wounded 14 times in 54 months performing deeds like this. He died 23 Dec. 2009 in Waco, TX, from pancreatic cancer.
WWI’s most famous American hero could not stand talking about what he did to become so. He was a conscientious objector, claiming Christianity on his draft notice, and yet was still drafted because the U. S. military does not put much stock into Christian pacifism (though Jesus was quite clear on whether or not you should kill people).
He finally decided to go to war because he would be helping stop the Germans and save American lives. He became well known as the finest marksman at Camp Gordon, GA, scoring perfect bullseyes with open sights more often than the snipers did with scopes.
When his drill instructor how he did it, he said something one might expect from Yogi Berra, “I was born shootin’ a gun better than I could read, sir. I still can.”
York’s battalion was sent to secure the Decauville railway, just north of Chatel-Chehery, in North France, just south of Belgium, on 8 October 1918. 17 men, four non-coms, and 13 privates were ordered to flank the German line and destroy the machine guns from the rear. They captured about 70 Germans and were trying to disarm them, when the machine guns spotted them and turned around to fire on them. 9 Americans around York dropped immediately, 6 of them dead.
Corporal York was now in charge, and left the 7 Americans still fit for duty to guard the Germans while he ran from cover to cover up the hill, shooting the whole way.
“And those machine guns were spitting fire and cutting down the undergrowth all around me something awful. And the Germans were yelling orders. You never heard such a racket in all of your life. I didn’t have time to dodge behind a tree or dive into the brush… As soon as the machine guns opened fire on me, I began to exchange shots with them. There were over thirty of them in continuous action, and all I could do was touch the Germans off just as fast as I could. I was sharp shooting… All the time I kept yelling at them to come down. I didn’t want to kill any more than I had to. But it was they or I. And I was giving them the best I had.”
He shot 15 men dead with his own rifle, and was out of ammunition. He then pulled his .45 and shot 8 more that charged him with bayonets. He then grabbed one of their rifles and fired on a few more machine gun nests, until the Germans surrendered.
When a friend back home, who did not enlist, asked him how many Germans he killed, York started sobbing so hard he threw up. He had killed at least 28.
WWII’s answer to SG York was a man only 5 feet 5 inches tall, and 150 pounds. He earned every major combat award the U. S. has to offer, fighting in Sicily, Salerno, Anzio, Rome, and France. He got the DSC in Normandy, when a German called down from a hilltop that he was surrendering. One of Murphy’s buddies took the bait and stood up, right into a sniper’s bullet. This infuriated Murphy, who jumped up and shot the sniper dead, then charged up the hill and wiped out a machine gun nest of 6 men, firing and throwing grenades at them. Then he picked up the MG-42 and charged over the hillside spraying it from the hip, killing 10 more men.
When asked how it felt to have the DSC, he said, “I got the DSC. All he got was dead.” It was on 26 January 1945, in Holtzwihr, France, almost on the German border, that he earned the Medal of Honor for ordering his men to retreat as the German assault on the town began. His unit had only 19 fighting men left out of 128. He stayed behind and shot the Germans as they emerged from the woods to cross a clearing, until he was out of ammunition. He then climbed onto a burning tank destroyer and used the .50 caliber machine gun to push them back. The Panzers and mortars started blowing up the ground all around him, but he continued this one-man assault for an hour, until he started calling in artillery strikes over the tank destroyer’s phone.
He called these strikes in closer and closer to his position, blowing up Germans and tanks less than 50 yards from him. He finally called a strike on his position, prompting the man on the other end to say, “That’s right on top of you! How close are they!?”
“Hold the phone! I’ll let you talk to them!” he shouted and jumped from the vehicle, and ran into the woods as they overran his position and were struck down again by American cannon fire. As the Germans were in disarray, he called his men out and organized a counter-attack, driving the German’s back.
His men estimated that he had killed 50 men.
William Hawkins waged one of the most furious one-man army assaults on enemy positions in the history of modern warfare. When the marines went ashore on Tarawa atoll, Betio Island, Hawkins told Robert Sherrod, who later became an editor for the Saturday Evening Post, that he would put his platoon of 40 men against any company of 150 men on Earth and guarantee to win.
“He was slightly wounded by shrapnel as he came ashore in the first wave, but the furthest thing from his mind was to be evacuated. He led his platoon into the forest of coconut palms. During a day and a half he personally cleaned out six Jap machine gun nests, sometimes standing on top of a track and firing point blank at four or five men who fired back at him from behind blockhouses. Lieutenant Hawkins was wounded a second time, but he still refused to retire.”
These machine gun nests were pyramidal huts about the size of a large trash can, made of 6 inch-thick steel, up into which a Japanese soldier could pop from underground and man the heavy or light machine gun through a 4 inch slit.
They were everywhere on the island, and the preparatory bombardment had missed most of them. While most of the marines dug in and kept their heads down, Hawkins stood up in full view not more than 5 yards from these pillboxes and fired his M-1 Carbine at them, killing the soldier and allowing his men to move forward to the next one. He refused to keep his head down, and when he ran out of ammunition, he ran up to their mouths and threw in grenades and satchel charges.
These machine guns fired explosive rounds, about .30 caliber, when a simple lump of lead isn’t enough. He destroyed 7 pillboxes and one blockhouse by himself, despite being wounded early in the engagement. The first was shrapnel as he disembarked the long Betio pier. Later in the day, one of the pillboxes caught him in the chest.
He was helped back to a medic, who bandaged him and demanded he get on a first aid boat and leave. He refused, and said, “Don’t tie it so tight that I can’t shoot.” The medic radioed Col. David Shoup, who also won the Medal of Honor for his leadership on the island, and Shoup asked Hawkins to leave.
“I’m not doing it, sir! I came here to kill Japs, not go home!”
Shoup relented and the medic complied, and Hawkins destroyed three more pillboxes by the end of the day. He was throwing his fourth grenade at another one when the gunner inside shot him dead. He was 29. Sherrod said later, “To say that his conduct was worthy of the highest traditions of the Marine Corps is like saying the Empire State Building is moderately high.”
No mention of John Basilone?
i know right! his actions on Guadalc***** were amazing
soldiers are murderers.
and your a moron… GD ?
You’re*
Go hug a tree
While I’m against war itself, I have absolute respect for not just these men, but for any man who died or put his life on the line for his country.
Also, at the people complaining the soldiers listed are all American: The medal of honor is an American reward. This is not a list on the bravest soldiers of all time. I don’t just respect American soldiers, I respect soldiers who risk their lives for ANY country.
This list really annoys me. Every single person on this list is American. Yeah, sure what these guys did was extremely heroic but clearly, the list maker hasn't done ***** all to research other countries soldiers. Typical American bull*****. They have no clue about what goes on outside of the US.
[JFrater: it is an American award - therefore all of its recipients are American. Read the title of the list and make sure you understand it before you comment!]
typical butt hurt comment of someone itching to bash America.
wow, I’m sorry dude but you just went full retard. Stories of MEDAL OF HONOR recipients should automatically tell you that they’re all going to be American.
You wouldn’t see any Chinese people on the list if this was about recipients of the Medal of Valour(the USSR equivalent of the Medal of Honor)
We dont give a ***** about the world because your all a bunch of crying *****es.
Too bad the medals are for surviving the act of killing someone else. Perhaps we will stop going to war when we stop glamorising it.
Whether we stop going to war or not isn't dependent on us glamourizing it. It depends on people's will power to make it so and most immediately and directly on politicians who order it.
Actually, most Medal of Honor winners are given the award posthumously…that means they died. Very few live to talk about it.
It’s not glamourizing it you freakin’ hippie! It’s reconizing bravery and (well it’s called the medal of honor) probably HONOR! Man can’t you freakin’ people just shut up, because you don’t have the stones to fight for others and your country.
nice one again
*waits for “list-is-too-american-centric” comments*
Interesting list! I hope some one will make a similar list of the brave recipients of the French Legion of Merit award. And, of course, do not include any Americans on that list to avoid the American haters out there.
not interesting, not interested.
Interesting list. I have no doubt about the bravery of the men (and any women) who win these types of awards for individual efforts, however when a commander orders his men into probable death and then they get the award it kinds of sticks in my craw. The Victoria Cross list (U.K. Award) is full of generals and Knights of the Realm who get these types of awards for sending their troops to certain death. At the end of the day, luck and bravery are a great combination.
wow.. the recent lists have been awesome!
How about, 10 astounding ***** ups by the Americans. That would be an easy list to make.
@someone (9): i would like to see a list of the top 10 astounding ***** ups by americans. unfortunately i can’t see the list stopping at only 10.
Very good list. Had a great read. It’s amazing some of the things these men endured.
And you know what is also sad? They were brave and courageous and put themselves in the line of fire to save their comrads, but the US government didn’t even give a ***** about any of these men. They were cannon fodder.
@someone (9): Would you shut up with your whiny attitude. No one wants to hear you complain. Also, maybe if you knew how to read you would see that this is a list of Medal of Honor winners, “the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government.” You see, the United States government only awards military decorations to their own military. NOT to people of other nations military’s.
So if you would please, Cry More.
Also, inb4 further trolling.
@peacefrog (15): No ***** sherlock and I’m not crying. You *****ing dickhead. What I said was true and judging by other peoples comments you are the odd one out here buddy.
Great list, although Benavidez should have been first. His heroism was the most unselfish of any I’ve ever heard.
Audie Murphy should be 1A. :- )
you're right. Benavidez should have been first. 37 wounds and he kept going. damn. the man is an absolute hero.
articles are way too long for this boring topic.
@someone (17): “You *****ing dickhead.” That sure sounds like crying to me.
And lol you are the only crying about Americans.
So I guess that makes me the odd one out, of only 2. You and me. So you can’t read AND you can’t count AND you cry about everything? You sir, are the *****hole of humanity.
@Matthew (18): I was thinking the same thing. I read Benavidez’s article and wondered how in the hell anyone could top that.
@someone (9): the medal of honor is an american award, other countries have there own standard as well, so it is really no surpirse from the title of the list it would be about american soldiers, i am not american but i found this list quite interesting, so how about instead of *****ing about it, write a list in regards to your countries heroes
@fiesman (6): my brother is a soldier, he is not a murderer you ignorant ass, next time you enjoy your freedom and priveledges and excesses and freedom of speech take a little time to think about who fought and died for them
obviously a list about recievers of the US medal of honour will only include americans! jeezo, the clues in the title! However, the list doesnt sit well with me. Murder is still murder, I’ll never think of it as heroism – but thats just my opinion.
@peacefrog (20): Shutup up you loser. “You’re a *****ing dickhead” doesn’t mean I am crying. It means I think that you are a *****ing dickhead.
“And lol you are the only crying about Americans”. If you want to win an argument then try being literate next time.
And if you learn to count, you little *****, you’d realise that I am not the only person who thinks Americans are overly represented here and to all the idiots who think I don’t realise this is a list about Medals of Honour. I know it is. What I am saying is that there shouldn’t be a list of Medals of Honours it should be of all the people who fought on our side in the war.
If it bothers you so much submit a list of those YOU think are heros. I know some the the stories of the VC winners are amazing
First off "Honour" Thats a fail and second of all stop *****ing about other people achomplishments and if you are soo annoyed why dont you create your own list of heroes and explain their courageous actions.
Great list, great men. I think it is a bit unfair that no. 1 got the award when he’s not only risking his own life but the lives of his crew but all these men have more courage, honor and tenacity than the entire listverse community put together.
For those that criticize them for their actions: A large number of them was drafted and two on these list were even devastated by what they had done. They also performed incredibly brave feats that did not necessarily center on killing the enemy and more on saving their fellows.
For those that complain about the lack of non-US soldiers on this list should note that this is a list of those that received the highest US military decoration.
It would be nice to see a similar list for other international war-heroes such as Simo Häyhä.
@someone (25): once again…you go ahead and write that list and stop *****ing
Boring…I am not interested in US medal of honors…
Whatever. ***** list. I hate you *****ing Americans. You are the scum on the bottom of societies shoe and you ***** everything up.
Real brave Believer. An anonymous post? Lol tough guy. I’d take anyone from our 100% volunteer army over 100 of you
***** off believer. what country are you from? how many wars has your country won?
Americans most certainly do not ***** things up. If anything, it is people like you that ***** everything up. America was the first colony to gain its independance from the mother land. Because of America, the people in your country were probably inspired to rise up and fight for their freedoms. If you live in Europe, especially France, some European countries were inspired by our Constitution, and therefore wrote their own.
Most of the freedoms that you enjoy today is, one way or another, related to America. During World War I, we did not have to become involved to save the Europeans. Without us, WWI would have last years longer and thousands of more people would have died. In World War II, we liberated France, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and many other countries from the opression of Nazi Germany. We also freed the German people from the Nazi party.
Without America, you, sir, would have nothing! So next time you post a comment bashing America, maybe you should think about all that this country has done for the world.
What a little ***** you are, believer. Hiding behind your internet connection so you can mouth off, knowing full well that there will be no consequences. Go ask your mommy what's for dinner and leave the conversation to the grownups.
You are obviously as stupid as a bag of hammers. If you hate Americans why are you on an American web site reading about Americans? I think you're a *****ing moron. I don't know what socialist paradise you are residing in but please do the world and favor and stay there.
you sir a a damn moron put the revolver in your mouth and pull the trigger …. GG
Believer is most likely isamic fundamentalist and has no respect for any actual heroic action against other armed individual but would prefer to make war on women and children with terrorist attacks. You are the epitome of cowardice and have no original thought but would rather spout some other complete idiots rhetoric.
Great list! very sobering
but im a little disappointed about where the comments are headed.
Yes. this list IS about something American. so what? is it going to kill you guys to read a list about something American for one day? honestly. there’ll be a new list tomorrow. get over it
and secondly. I thought there was a rule about swearing in comments. it really brings down the quality of the site when people scroll through the comments and all they see is #Q$#$B #$#&$ B@#($&#@$
If you dont have something construtive to say, why waste your time? Go find another site that does interest you.
Again, awesome list FlameHorse!
@someone (25): First off, yes you are crying. The tone of your rage essays clearly demonstrate just how mad you are, and how full of tears your eyes are.
Secondly, there is no argument. It’s quite clear that you have no idea what you are talking about and thought that with your America bashing you would be praised by your clear knowledge of world affairs. But I called you out of your bull*****, and now you have nothing to resort to but crying and swearing.
Also, if you want to throw in tips on winning an argument, than here is one for you: don’t swear. It only expresses your lack of knowledge and ability to comeback with a decent response.
So get off my nuts and get on my level.
What a fantastic list!
People wanna stop complaining and complile their own list if they don’t like others. You wanna read about people/things from your country put pen to paper or get typing, just stop the moaning!!!!!
Loved the list, one of my favourites, and no…I’m not American. Keep up the good work!
Sometimes i wish comments were disabled…
@someone (25): your side, what is your side? this list is through the ages, it ranges from world war one, world war 2, and vietnam! and dbrown is right, either put up or shut up! you whine over nothing and just are speaking like a complete ***** for the sake of attention. Most likely because your a miserable little ***** in real life who can’t get any attention via actual social interaction and thus gets their rocks off seeking it any way they can…
I’m canadian, a history major in there masters and i think this is a great list, as so i would love to see all victorian cross lists and any other from other countrys around the world,
These guys are made of metal
great list…
by the way, those guys must have been adrenaline junkies, or maybe something snaps in the human brain when one forfeits his/her life, ignoring pain and fear of death.
yeah, they were seasoned soldiers and all but, come to think of it their buddies were veterans as well, but these “berserkers” were the ones that did the impossible…
most of heroism stories involve an overwhelming desperation to save or avenge their brothers-in-arms, rather than a desire for killing so i don’t think of their “kills” as “murder”.
calling soldiers “murderers”, is just another stupid way of expressing one’s ignorance. A soldier killing / maiming unarmed civilians is certainly a murderer and a monster, regardless of whatever order he is given, but fighting to survive in a war (most of the soldiers do) is a totally different thing.
@someone @believer If you hate the list because it’s American, don’t read it. Simple as that. People can write whatever they like so stop *****ing them about your hypocrisy and go something #$@%ing productive instead.
Wow, i was waiting for something better from such an equipped army. But i guess, traveling the world killing people that you have no personal business with, just thinking i need to kill those people, isn’t the same as killing people defending your country. Look up for http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simo_Häyhä you’ll know what i mean. He was fighting for his country, not for some corrupt politicians.
How dare you sir! Sure, I do not insult the honor of this man, but how dare you insult these men! These men fought in the same World War Two as you, and I will be damned if they are honored any less!
nice one. i love listverse!
Awesome list, FlameHorse.
I hope to see other lists made about awards from different countries. Especially the Victoria Cross. Ever see the movie Zulu? Or read up on what happened there? I guess 11 of those medals were handed out during that one fight. Awesome stuff!
As for the comments….at least one person is from the WBC. As for the others, says a lot about you when you generalize one group of people based on the actions of a few. Sounds like what you accuse us of doing. How sad and ignorant can people get?
i would definetely try to do what Simo Hayha did back in the day, if someone tried to invade my homeland, but unfortunately would be blown to pieces as no one can compare with the “White Death”
Wow, let’s see if I can do some damage control.
First of all, I don’t agree with war, while bravery is cool and people like Simo Hayha are undeniably badass, it demonstrates mankind’s stupidity in his inability to come up with more creative solutions to disagreements. You don’t have to kill people to be badass.
@someone, you say Americans are the *****hole of the world and it’s so typical of them to be oblivious to the rest of the world. You are generalizing an entire nation of people, just like an ignorant American. “All Muslims are terrorists”. “If you ain’t an American you’re just an American’t”. This is one of the most disappointing practices of my fellow Americans, and you have disappointed just the same.
As for war, it’s all gravy to say “think about the men and women who died for you when you think about your freedom”. Well think about this, how does that figure into civil war? Civil wars are not so glorified, when someone dies nobody wins. Unless it’s Hitler, that man needed to go. It’s a shame he had to trick so many young Germans into going with him. Hitler was a madman, he should’ve just been put in a mental institution early on. But he played on peoples anger and fear. People are so goddamn vulnerable and afraid that they gave him the power he needed to inflict his madness on the rest of the world.
Imagine we’re all countrymen, our country is Earth, and any war is a “civil war”, though I’d say war is terribly uncivilized.
JFrater if you’d allow me to post a poem here:
Sounding the Silent Trump
The horse was battered far beyond death,
and yet
both parties stood on opposites sides,
faces stern and serious, some angry, flogging in futility.
It was a reticent passerby who recognized the scene for what it was.
He didn’t yell,
didn’t wave his arms and point fingers
or attempt to point out absurdities.
Instead he pictured in his mind (the safest place he knew),
both parties laying down their clubs,
nodding at one-another,
and shaking hands.
He smirked at his own hopeless romanticism,
smiled at the mob, and walked on.
Though both parties were probably oblivious to him, eyes too fixated and mouths too loud;
when he returned home he hid his horse.
He brewed a pot of tea should anyone get a sore throat.
Wow……I hate to say it but this website has gone downhill in the last 6 months. JFrater please try to stop fools from posting. Its funny that Americans don’t jump on and complain about how European some lists can be. This site used to be engaging, now reading the comments sections it tends to turn me off. In addition, I can no longer let me son browse such an informative site due to the nature of the comment section. Please as a human race can we clean up the banter. Can we actually have a blog that is not complete garbage on the internet these days…..wait I think that is impossible!
@Aus (41): Dude, we are here to discuss how brave they were, not whether they should’ve been brave or not.
Flamehorse: Awesome list man, surely not all the ‘ too American lists ‘ are bad.
These acts are just … wow. 1,2 & 9 were the best.
note to self: don’t read the comments ever again. People are stupid and argue over stupid things and it *****es me off.
i think what makes people to think killing is justifiable is more than a “disagreement”. a right to live a happy, prosperous live is not something you debate about.
if someone tries to take it away from you or your family or nation i don’t think there is much to do besides fighting.
yes, politicians are corrupt, but like it or not, fighting is sadly an integral part of the human animal and denying it is downright nonchalant ignorance.
humans begin to bicker and fight for things from infancy and as they get more means to take things that don’t belong to them, it gets more and more violent, there is no cure for greed i’m afraid. (other than being 6 feet under)
nice to see a list dedicated to war.
These men gave their lifes so we, the people in the free world could continue our lives as we are used to.
@ someone: do you really think you can win an argument by insulting your opponent instead of trying to debunk his own reasoning?
the Medal of Honor is the biggest AMERICAN distinction. why would the US government award such a medal to a foreign soldier?
USA! USA! USA! USA!USA! USA!USA! USA!
This is a list that all those cowardly Europeans (and Liberals in general) should read if they ever want to be real men.
If it were not for the bravery of men like these Europe may not exist as it is right now. Oh wait, that might be a good thing.
You sir, are a disgrace to America, and a living disgrace to these men.
You Ma'am are a European and that is the worst of all. Glad we saved your but in the 40's.
You did ***** all in the 40′s dumbass, you most likely weren’t even born. So what the ***** are you bragging about? The astonishing accomplishment of being born an american by accident? For which you had to do nothing whatsoever? Yea, so shut the ***** up. Dumbass.
Why don’t you create one for Europe. By the way the majority of the wars in the 200 years have been by you folks- Hypocrite
And to spin your retarded logic around on you, if The Age of Enlightenment never happened (which started in Holland, which is in europe) you would be sitting in a hut made of ***** looking at your fire instead of a computer screen. *****ing dick.
Wth? This was AMAZING!!! It LITERALLY took me about an hour to read this list because I read each one so many times over and over again! This is what I call A LIIIISSSTTTT!!! Thank you Flamehorse. You are amazing and such a wonderful addition to this site. I sent this link to everyone I know. I don’t know what else to say but…damn.
Surely Benavidez should have been no 1? He got his medal for saving instead of killing others, which I think is incredible. And I agree with whoever said that the comments section has gone downhill. No people shouldn’t say it’s too American if you see the title but some of the American comments back are just awful (see #47) just enjoy the list and be polite if you criticise it.
Sorry I meant No, people
JFrater – please control the comments on your website. Creating a forum for racists will harm the following you have.
This is going to sound really bad so if you dont want to hear it… Cover you ears? Because of all the text I wasnt bothered to read it… *Waits to be punched*
JFrater – Please delete comment 47 because that idiot surely dosn’t know there own history. I acctually might stop viewing this website if I see more like that. I know you cant moderate all the comments because thats Wayyyyyy to much work. But I’m british. There american.
“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Discovery”
If it wasn’t for us. You wouldn’t be here. Oh wait. That might be a good thing.
Okay I think this site has fallen to a new low…
#47
#9
#13
#17
#35
Although I agree with #10 and #11. But don’t do it. That would all hell loose.
Great list, well written and a good read!
Have to agree with normal (#51), the number of sane people visiting this site is dwindling and it’s putting me off coming back. Some comment moderation wouldn’t go amiss.
articles to long for me to care. this list isnt to american, its about americans ffs. i’m british aswell so, yeah.
@someone & believer – you jerks should be banned from this site. Your comments are offensive & discriminative. Im not American – South African in fact. But I have NO problem with this list – its an American award given to soldiers, therefore DUH the list is going to be on Americans.
Your both disgust me.
@someone else (11):
So true…
Anyway… What a list… *rolls eyes*
@ Devonsfridge – seriously you want comment 47 to be deleted?? EVERYTHING @someone & @believer said should be deleted. Again… disgusting.