On this day in 1968, a hero engages in an action that would earn him the Medal of Honor. Was Gary Wetzel an unlikely hero? As a teenager, he’d been in the habit of skipping school a lot. He joined the Army when he was 18 because it was “either . . . get a job or join the service, so I chose to join the service.”   Either way, the Army was blessed to have Wetzel. The young soldier went to Vietnam, where he was assigned to an ordnance outfit. But Wetzel wanted something more. H

On this day in 1945, a hero engages in an action that would earn him the Medal of Honor. Isadore “Izzy” Jachman would take on two enemy tanks, single-handedly, forcing them into retreat.   Perhaps the incredible feat wasn’t as surprising as you might think. After all, the young staff sergeant had a personal stake in World War II: His family had fled rising antisemitism in Germany when he was just a toddler. Worse, he was surely worried about his relatives who’d remained behin

On this day in 1953, a Navy medic is awarded the Medal of Honor. Francis “Doc” Hammond had worked “feverishly” to save lives in Korea, one eyewitness to his action said, noting that Hammond was “the bravest man I saw out there that night . . . his actions were an inspiration to all of us.”   Hospitalman 3rd Class Hammond had proven that he was made of stern stuff, right from the get-go.   “On his very first patrol, one of his comrades at the head of the group stepped on a min

On this day in 1944, American soldiers should have been at home celebrating Christmas and New Year’s. Instead, they were fighting off one last German push during the Battle of the Bulge. One of these soldiers, Pfc. Melvin Biddle, was a normally soft-spoken man. He later even admitted to being scared during combat. “But I lost a lot of fear because I was out there and couldn’t let the troops down,” he told a journalist in 2008. He needed that attitude on December 23, as he fou

On this day in 1920, a future Medal of Honor recipient is born.  Lewis “Red” Millett is best known for leading the last major bayonet charge in U.S. Army history. He would receive a Medal for his action.   Was it a surprising outcome for a man who had once deserted the Army?   Of course, the reason he deserted was because he wanted to fight. He’d fled across the border and joined the Canadian Army, returning to the fold only after the United States entered World War II.   He’

On this day in 1941, the Japanese launch an attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor. You already know the basics of the story, but do you know about the 16 men who received Medals of Honor for their bravery so long ago?   Remember: Those boys woke up that morning thinking that the United States was NOT at war. But they leapt into action when called upon to do so.   USS West Virginia, engulfed in flames Some of the acts were relatively simple ones, like staying

On this day in 1944, a hero receives a Medal of Honor. Raymond “Wilkie” Wilkins once aced the written entry exam for West Point, but then he failed the physical requirements for that academy because his teeth were slightly crooked!   Undeterred, he enlisted and began his Army career as a private. From there, he was soon learning to fly at the Air Corps Technical School.   “He wanted to be Army; Army with a capital A,” a Portsmouth Star reporter wrote in 1945. “That is the cor

On this day in 1969, a hero receives the Medal of Honor. Webster Anderson once said that “[p]art of a man’s duty is to continue fighting until he can’t fight any more.”   He’d lived up to those words on October 15, 1967, during the Vietnam War.   Then-Staff Sergeant Anderson was serving with an artillery battery of the 101st Airborne Division in Quang Tin Province when his base was attacked. It was about 3:00 in the morning, and the Vietnamese had attacked with overwhelming n

On this day in 2009, a Medal of Honor recipient passes away. Alejandro Ruiz had perhaps been an unlikely hero? Indeed, he might never have been at Okinawa but for a somewhat humorous legal scrape that he got himself into.   A 20-year-old Ruiz had been transporting cows across Texas in 1944 when he made a spur-of-the-moment decision to propose to his girlfriend, Eliza Martinez. He was supposed to take the cows to Carlsbad, but he detoured to Barstow to find Eliza instead. Perh

On this day in 1948, a hero is born in Pennsylvania. William R. Prom would go on to become a Lance Corporal in the Marines and a Medal of Honor recipient. Prom may have been a hero, but he was also just an American boy who dreamed of being a professional baseball player. Or, if that didn’t work out, perhaps he could be a police officer. He put these dreams on hold when he signed up for the Marines late in 1967, just as his best friend was preparing to go to college. Prom soon

At about this time in 1951, a hero engages in an action that would earn him the Medal of Honor. Pfc. Mack Jordan was just 22 years old when his “unflinching courage” stunned his fellow soldiers. He’d then been serving in Korea for just a few months. The Korean War has been called “the Forgotten War.” Many Americans are used to hearing about World War II and the Vietnam War, but they know very little about the conflict sandwiched in the middle. The heroes of that war thus rece

On this day in 1943, a former Detroit Lion engages in an action that would earn him the Medal of Honor. Yet Maurice “Footsie” Britt earned more than just a Medal. He was also the first American to earn the four highest U.S. Army combat decorations for valor, all during a single war.   Even better, he lived to tell his stories.   Britt had been an athlete in college, of course, but he’d also joined the Army Reserve Officer’s Training Corps during his time at the University of

On this day in 1944, a hero engages in an action that would earn him the Medal of Honor.  Charles E. Mower was a Wisconsin native and the son of a World War I veteran.   He’d been a football coach before joining the Army and could have gone back to such a life, but “since God has seen fit to change those plans,” Mower’s high school classmate James Theirl concluded, “we know that what Chuck did on that final day was his greatest work.”   That “final day” was November 3, 1944,

On this day in 1944, a soldier engages in an action that would earn him the Medal of Honor. Private George “Joe” Sakato would not receive his Medal until nearly 56 years after his action.  Even then, he was stunned.   “I couldn’t believe they were going to give me the Medal of Honor,” he said, noting that he only ever saw 90 days of combat. “I was just a recruit. I was just a raw private.”   But it was even more than that. When Sakato joined the Army, he was short and somewha

On this day in 1952, a Marine engages in an action that would earn him the Medal of Honor. George O’Brien was surely an unlikely hero. The Texas native had been a “self-described problem child,” a Department of Defense summary explains. As a young boy, he was apparently a bit of a handful in class, which left him constantly changing schools.   In the end, he worked as a Merchant Marine during World War II. Perhaps that experience settled him down? After the war, he went to Te

On this day in 1980, a hero passes away. William Soderman’s hometown of West Haven, Connecticut, had long known him as a quiet, hardworking man who would “always see a task through to the end.”   That determination would turn him into a one-man army at the Battle of the Bulge. Would you believe that Soderman took on multiple German tanks, single-handedly?! The move earned him a Medal of Honor.   Pfc. Soderman’s heroism came near Rocherath, Belgium on the night of December 17-

On this day in 1917, a future Medal of Honor recipient is born. Truman Olson would go on to become one of the heroes of the bloody and...

This day in 1918, then-Corporal Alvin York distinguishes himself for bravery in a battle near Chatel-Chehery, France. The one-time...

On this day in 2023, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer is commissioned. USS Jack H Lucas  is named for the youngest...

On this day in 2010, a hero receives the Medal of Honor. Robert James Miller is credited with singlehandedly saving 7 members of his team...