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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Nov 20, 2017 1:28:06 GMT -5
They helped write the book of history, and the memory of their brave deeds echoes amongst those who remember their names. That's what we're celebrating here: 25 Great Heroes of World War II.
This list is unranked, and little more than a nod to some of the souls that showcased valor in the heat of the war.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Nov 20, 2017 1:54:54 GMT -5
25) Torpedo Squadron 8
A squadron of torpedo bombers, VT-8 was assigned to the USS Hornet in the early months of the war. The planes they flew were outdated Douglas TBD Devastators... which played a large role in their fate. On June 4, 1942 during the Battle of Midway, they became separated from their fellow dive bombers and fighter escort. They went to attack the Japanese carriers alone, and the slow, low flying planes were easy targets for the Japanese Anti-Aircraft guns and Zero fighters. All 15 planes of VT-8 were shot down, and of the 30 men in the planes, only Ensign George Gay survived. Their sacrifice was not in vein though; their attack drew the Japanese fighter planes out of position, and made them use up much fuel and ammunition. When the American divebombers eventually, arrived, the Japanese fighter planes were out of position, allowing the Americans to attack with little interference from the Zeroes. 3 of the four Japanese carriers were hit in the subsequent attack, with the fourth also sunk in a separate attack the next day. Ensign George Gay was rescued the day after he was shot down, and VT-8 was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for their sacrifice. The fallen: Lieutenant Commander John C. Waldron Lieutenant Raymond A. Moore Lieutenant James C. Owens Jr. Lieutenant, junior grade George M. Campbell Lieutenant, junior grade John P. Gray Lieutenant, junior grade Jeff D. Woodson Ensign William W. Abercrombie Ensign William W. Creamer Ensign Harold J. Ellison Ensign William R. Evans Ensign Henry R. Kenyon Ensign Ulvert M. Moore Ensign Grant W. Teats Robert B. Miles, Aviation Pilot 1st Class Horace F. Dobbs, Chief Radioman Amelio Maffei, Radioman 1st Class Tom H. Pettry, Radioman 1st Class Otway D. Creasy Jr., Radioman 2nd Class Ross H. Bibb Jr., Radioman 2nd Class Darwin L. Clark, Radioman 2nd Class Ronald J. Fisher, Radioman 2nd Class Hollis Martin, Radioman 2nd Class Bernerd P. Phelps Radioman 2nd Class Aswell L. Picou, Seaman 2nd Class Francis S. Polston, Seaman 2nd Class Max A. Calkins, Radioman 3rd Class George A. Field, Radioman 3rd Class Robert K. Huntington, Radioman 3rd Class William F. Sawhill, Radioman 3rd Class J.D. Manning, Machinist's Mate 3rd Class (Not all are pictured below)
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Nov 20, 2017 2:04:14 GMT -5
24) Franz StiglerFranz Stigler may have fought on the Nazi side during the war, yet there was an extraordinary act of compassion, bravery, and valor that truly defined his life. A B-17, flown by an American named Charles (or "Charlie") Brown, was damaged following a raid. Stigler, a German pilot, had the opportunity to shoot the B-17 down, but didn't, claiming that it wasn't proper etiquette. Instead, he escorted it out of harm's way, back over the English Channel, before flying back home. In doing so, he risked his life in three ways: 1) If his superiors heard about this, he could be court martialed and executed. 2) The B-17 had the chance to shoot him down. 3) He could have been targeted by anti-aircraft fire. However, he put his life on the line to save an unknown enemy, and hears later, Stigler and Brown were finally able to meet up again, and because close friends until their deaths.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Nov 20, 2017 2:27:55 GMT -5
23) Lieutenant Commander Ernest E. Evans, and the crew of the USS Johnston"This is going to be a fighting ship. I intend to go in harm's way, and anyone who doesn't want to go along had better get off right now."When Evans was given command of the destroyer USS Johnston... he had no idea what he would be in for. On October 25, 1944 the USS Johnston was part of Taffy 3, a small group of 3 Destroyers, 4 Destroyer Escorts and 6 Escort carriers that were meant to take on lighter enemies. But, as fate would have it... they found themselves face to face with the Japanese Center Force, which included four battleships, six heavy cruisers, two light cruisers and 11 destroyers. Not waiting for orders, Evans broke formation and sailed directly for the Japanese. First, their guns were in range, and they manged to fire 200 shells in five minutes. Then, they got into torpedo range, and fired all ten of their torpedoes. They succeeded in blowing off the bow of the Japanese cruiser Kumano. Fighting until the bitter end, the Johnston was hit by battleship shells, and sank. More than half the crew, including Evans, the man who initiated the attack, lost their lives. Though all of Taffy 3 deserves mention, it is Lieutenant Commander Evans and the crew of the USS Johnston who deserve special mention; for daring to initiate an attack against impossible odds, probably knowing they may not see the battle through. Evans was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, and The USS Johnston was awarded the presidential Unit Citation
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Nov 20, 2017 2:36:36 GMT -5
22) The "Night Witches"It's almost a joke that Communist Russia was better at combating sexism than we were. Stalin called upon women to help join the battle on October 8, 1941, and women in their late teens and early twenties answered the call. The 588th Night Bomber Regiment was made up entirely of women, and they flew harassment and precision bombing against the Germans. At its height, it had 40 two-person crews. The sound they made to the Germans appeared like broomsticks; thus they were nicknamed the "Nachthexen", or "Night Witches". By the end of the war, they had flown 24,000 missions with every member having at least 800 under their belt, dropped 23,000 tons of bombs, and had twenty-three members given the Hero of the Soviet Union award. They remain the most highly decorated all-women unit in the Soviet Air Force.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Dec 10, 2017 2:00:10 GMT -5
21) Raoul WallenbergA Swedish Businessman, he was appointed a diplomat to Hungary in 1944. Disgusted by the Nazi treatment of Jews, he lead one of the most successful rescue operations of the war. Issuing protective passports to Hungarian Jews and sheltering them from the Nazis, his actions are estimated to have saved over 100,000 Hungarian Jews.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Dec 10, 2017 12:09:23 GMT -5
20) The Men at Castle ItterThe Battle for Castle Itter is considered to be the strangest battle in WWII history. The battle was the only time in the war that Americans and Germans fought side-by-side, as members of the Wehrmacht helped fight off another attacking German force. They helped save recently freed French prisoners, including prime ministers, generals, and even tennis stars. The battle is not well known, however it proved that opposite sides can work together in the heat of battle.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Dec 10, 2017 21:11:54 GMT -5
19) Audie MurphyOne of the most decorated American Soldiers in history, Murphy received medals from the United States, France and Belgium for his service in World War II. In January 1945, he single-handedly held off an entire company of German soldiers for an hour, then lead a counterattack while wounded and out of ammunition.
After the war, he went on to have an acting career, including the 1955 movie To Hell and Back, a movie based on his war memoirs where he portrayed himself.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jun 16, 2018 21:41:54 GMT -5
18) Charles Joseph Coward
"Captured in France in 1940, British soldier Charles Coward would have been notable just for the nearly dozen attempts he made to escape German captivity. But he’s world famous as the guy who broke into and out of a Nazi death camp. In 1943, the Germans decided they were done fooling around with Coward and sent him to Auschwitz, specifically the Monowitz slave labor camp there. Coward led his fellow Brits in smuggling food to Jewish inmates and passing coded notes to the Red Cross, who sent them back to England. At one point, he actually smuggled himself into the Auschwitz death camp for a night, then smuggled himself out and reported back to the British about what he’d seen. He bribed SS guards, saved at least 400 Jewish laborers from death and after the war, gave testimony at the Nuremberg Trials."
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jun 16, 2018 21:44:55 GMT -5
17) Llewellyn Chilson"Known as the "One Man Army," Master Sergeant Llewellyn Chilson was so lauded for his bravery that President Truman personally pinned seven medals on him after the war. Fighting in Italy, he was captured with three other men, then promptly escaped and took over 40 prisoners on his own. Then, because that wasn’t enough, he took an enemy hill in Southern France with 25 men on it, capturing all of them. By himself. While fighting on the Rhine River in March 1945, Chilson took out six German guns and vehicles, at one point, crawling from position to position and blowing them up, using the light from an ammo wagon he’d set on fire. When it was over, Chilson’s unit killed, wounded, or captured over 200 German troops and liberated an entire small town. And just for good measure, two weeks later, he stood on a tank turret during a murderous fight and spotted for the tank’s cannon. He rang up another 40 prisoners thanks to that heroism." The real amazing part is- he survived the war and lived till he was 91 years old.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jun 16, 2018 21:51:51 GMT -5
16) Richard Bong
The "Ace of Aces," with 40 planes shot down he is the top scoring American fighter pilot in history. The Army Air Force even wanted to recall him to become an instructor, but he refused. Eventually becoming a Jet plane test pilot, he was killed in a crash in August 1945. So significant was his death, he shared the front pages of newspapers with news of the Hiroshima bombing.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jun 16, 2018 21:56:09 GMT -5
15) Lewis Millett"When young American officer Lewis Millett heard President Roosevelt declare that America wouldn’t go to war in Europe, he deserted, hitchhiked to Canada and joined the Canadian army. He served as an anti-aircraft gunner in London before transferring back to the US Army, which was now in the fight. It was in North Africa that Millett showed tremendous and probably insane bravery, at one point, getting into a burning ammunition-filled half-track and driving it away from his comrades, then jumping off of it just before it exploded. Just for good measure, he shot down a German fighter with a machine gun on a different, non-burning half-track. Finally, the Army figured out his desertion, court-martialed him, and promoted him anyway." His status as a hero was secured though, when during the Korean War, he was awarded the Medal of Honor for leading the last bayonet charge made by American forces.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jun 17, 2018 17:12:10 GMT -5
NOTE: Due to unusually large picture sizes, most further posts, barring the Number one on this list, shall not have pictures
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jun 17, 2018 17:23:34 GMT -5
14) Bill MillinPiper Bill, or the Mad Piper, depending on who you ask, charged onto the beaches of Normandy wearing a kilt and playing his bagpipes. He proved surprisingly helpful though, as the sound of his pipes helped the soldiers storming the beach figure out which way to go as smoke covered the area. Later, he lead the march across Pegasus Bridge, even as enemy forces shot a dozen of his comrades dead. Surviving German forces interviewed after the war was over, when asked why they didn't shoot the piper, replied that they thought he had gone mad.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jun 17, 2018 17:32:34 GMT -5
13) Jack "Mad Jack" ChurchillHe became infamous during the war, going into battle with a longbow, bagpipes and broadsword. He is the only man to have gotten a kill with a long bow during the war, and infamously killed dozens of enemies and was wounded before getting captured. Then he escaped, wrecked more havoc on the enemy and was captured again, only to escape yet again before the war had ended. He carried a sword into battle, declaring "Any officer who goes into action without his sword is improperly dressed."
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jun 17, 2018 17:34:31 GMT -5
12) Ivan Pavlovich
This Soviet soldier had one hell of a story to tell. "Not every soldier experiences the horror and glory of fighting at the front lines. Some guys have to be the cook. But Soviet soldier Ivan Pavlovich got to pull off both as a cook for the 91st Tank Regiment of the Red Army. Ivan was cooking dinner in August 1941, when he noticed a German tank within sight of his field kitchen. He was alone. Grabbing a rifle and an axe, Ivan waited for the crew to start to exit the tank, which had stalled.
When they got out, Pavlovich charged, and the crew, seeing an axe-wielding Soviet running toward them, quickly got back into the tank and opened fire. Naturally, Pavlovich climbed onto the tank and chopped the machine gun barrel with his axe, then blinded the tank with a tarp and ordered his imaginary comrades to pass him an imaginary grenade. The tank’s crew surrendered and one imagines Pavlovich got back to his cooking."
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jun 17, 2018 17:35:41 GMT -5
11) Bhanbhagta Gurung
"A Nepalese Gurkha fighting for Britain, Gurung won the Victoria Cross in 1945 for his insanely courageous attack on five Japanese foxholes that were holding up a Gurkha advance.
Running from position to position, Gurung cleared four with grenades and his bayonet, then he advanced on the final one, a machine gun nest. But he was out of grenades, so he threw a smoke bomb in, stabbed the Japanese troops who emerged with his personal knife, then broke into the machine gun nest and beat the last man to death with a rock. The position was held against Japanese counterattack, thanks to Gurung’s guts and leadership. After the war, he went back to Nepal to care for his mother, and died in 2008."
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jun 17, 2018 17:37:20 GMT -5
10) George Vujnovich
"American intelligence operative George Vujnovich organized and led an operation to smuggle over 500 downed Allied airmen out of Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia. He first trained a three man team to parachute into the area, disguised as Serbian nationals, and had them work with locals and allied fliers to set up an airstrip. He then organized the logistics of a series of flights to get the men out, smuggling 512 men from an incredibly dangerous region without ever losing a plane or being detected.
Vujnovich’s cunning plan remained secret until 2007, when the unassuming owner of an airplane parts supply company was revealed to be a former secret agent who saved hundreds of lives. Vujnovich died in 2012 at the age of 96."
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jun 17, 2018 17:39:15 GMT -5
9) Joseph Rochefort
"As an American codebreaker, Rochefort was instrumental in decoding Japanese communications that pointed to them attempting to invade the strategically critical island of Midway. Rochefort’s team developed a ruse to broadcast a message about a water condenser failing on the island, then waited to see if the Japanese would take the bait.
They did, and Rochefort put together an intelligence profile that pointed to exactly when and where the attack would take place. The US Navy was able to blunt the assault on Midway, and in June 1942, they sank four Japanese aircraft carriers, which turned the tide of the Pacific War. Rochefort’s exploits were virtually unknown, he received no recognition at the time. He died in 1976."
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jun 17, 2018 17:40:20 GMT -5
8) John D. Bulkeley
"Vice Admiral John D. Bulkeley won the Medal of Honor, had a destroyer named after him and fought in both the Pacific and Atlantic. But his greatest feat, one that might have changed the course of the war, was rescuing General Douglas MacArthur from certain Japanese capture during the fall of the Philippines. Bulkeley was the leader of a PT Boat squadron, and his daring action got MacArthur, his command staff, and his family to safety through nearly 1,000 miles of open ocean.
After the war, Bulkeley commanded a military base in Tennessee, where he was known to test the readiness of the troops there by putting on a ninja costume and breaking into the base, trying to evade detection. Because, that’s what you do when you’re an old soldier – you put on a ninja suit and dare your men not to shoot you."
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