Heroes On And Off The Battlefield

Throughout history, wars have devastated nations, bringing horror, destruction, and violence, forcing innocent people into combat. Some people unselfishly risked their lives to save others and spread awareness across the world. While there are many brave souls to thank during these horrific times, we've shone the spotlight on 20 remarkable war heroes.   

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1. Desmond Doss

Doss was a gunless medic who refused to carry a weapon during his service in World War II. He was called the “conscientious objector” who single-handedly saved the lives of almost one hundred American soldiers fighting on the Maeda Escarpment of Okinawa. On top of that, he cared for his own injuries and left the stretchers for other injured soldiers in need.   

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2. Sybil Ludington

In 1777, the people of Danbury had a sixteen-year-old girl to thank for her heroism. After finding out British forces were planning an attack on Danbury, Sybil rode far on horseback to reach her father, Colonel Henry Ludington so that he could prepare his army. Although they could not stop the city from burning, the troops could join forces at the Battle of Ridgefield, forcing the enemies to leave.      

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3. Witold Pilecki

Pilecki was a Polish army captain who volunteered to enter Auschwitz and expose the horror of what went on inside. He arranged a network of prisoners to help him but was accused of exaggerating the horrendous conditions he claimed. He gave his life in the name of resistance, captured and executed by the Soviets. 

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4. Harriet Tubman

Renowned for her revolutionary efforts in the Underground Railroad, many folks are surprised to learn that Tubman played a key role in the Civil War as well. She joined the Union forces, convinced them to use escaped slaves as contraband, and worked as a nurse until she proved herself as an incredible spy. She became the first woman to lead an assault in the Civil War that freed over 750 slaves. 

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5. Audie Murphy

Murphy earned many medals for his bravery in WWII including the Medal of Honor. Injured and alone, he managed to stall a German attack by taking over an abandoned tank destroyer that had caught on fire. He was able to stall the Germans long enough for the Allies to execute a counterattack. 

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6. Mary Walker

Walker wore the pants! She was the only woman to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and she refused to wear typical women’s dresses. Walker was one of America’s first female doctors who worked as a civilian surgeon, often crossing battle lines to help the wounded. She was once captured and accused of being a spy but was freed by a prisoner exchange.  

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7. Henry Johnson

Johnson was part of the Harlem Hellfighters, a Black regiment during WWI. Dubbed “Black Death” during his service, he suffered from 21 injuries and rescued a wounded soldier in the middle of combat. Despite all his risks and wounds, Johnson was not fairly given disability pay after the war ended and died at 32.  

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8. Sarah Edmonds

When the Civil War broke out, Edmonds disguised herself as a man to join the military. Going by the name Franklin Flint Thompson, he began as a field nurse and then became a spy for the Union. She became the only woman ever admitted to the Civil War veteran’s organization The Grand Army of the Republic.

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9. Deborah Sampson

Sampson was another lady who had to disguise herself as a man in order to join the battlefield. For two years she fought in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. To prevent being exposed, she had to care for a bullet wound on her own. After falling ill, she was finally caught and honorably discharged but she became one of the first female lecturers afterwards. Her husband was the first man to receive a widow’s pension after she passed.    

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10. Edith Cavell

Cavell became well-known for her nursing skills and her equality of treatment during WWI. She believed every injured soldier deserved treatment no matter what side they fought for. She smuggled British and French soldiers to safety which led to her tragic execution after she was caught and sentenced for treason. She shifted the mindset for women in the medical field and was viewed as a heroic martyr to the cause.      

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11. Matt Urban

Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Urban barely survived several injuries but that didn’t stop him from fighting with his army. He was nicknamed “the Ghost” after he snuck away from an English hospital unhealed to rejoin his men to finish a fight in France. He was shot many times including a bullet in his neck.  

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12. Jacqueline Cochran

It took her only 3 weeks to learn to fly solo and it was obvious Cochran was destined to fly. She became the lead trainer for Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) in WWII, campaigning for women pilots to support the war. Cochran and her WASP team delivered over 12,000 aircraft to troops over the two years and received a Distinguished Service Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross. 

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13. John Basilone

Basilone was the only American Marine officer to earn the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross during WWII. He’s renowned for defending a narrow pass with his gunmen at the Battle of Guadalcanal. When he was offered a safer position afterward, Basilone refused and continued to fight in battles, eventually losing his life at the battle of Iwo Jima.  

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14. Irena Sendler

As part of the underground Polish resistance organization, Sendler was responsible for rescuing over 2,500 Jewish children during WWII. She was a nurse who used her credentials to access the ghetto and smuggle the children out. She was arrested, tortured, and sentenced to death, but her friends managed to bribe her guards and she escaped in hiding until the end of the war.   

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15. Noor Inayat Khan

Khan was a descendant of Indian royalty who fought with the British army against fascism. She joined the Women’s Auxillary Air Force and was the lone radio operator in France until she was betrayed by a double agent. She was punished by torture and solitary confinement until she was shot at a concentration camp in 1944.  

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16. Nancy Wake

By 1943, Wake was the most wanted person by the Gestapo with a five million franc bounty on her head. She was a courier for the Resistance when Germany invaded France until the network was betrayed and she had to escape to England. Shortly after, she parachuted back into France to help the Allied invasion successfully engage with over 22,000 Nazi soldiers.  

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17. Frank Luke

Luke was a risky fighter pilot who went after heavily armed German observation balloons. In just nine days of war, he shot down fourteen enemy balloons and four aircraft. On his last mission, he was shot in the air but managed to land his plane. Unfortunately, he died from his wounds but his legacy soars high.    

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18. Sophie Scholl

Scholl was a university student in Munich who was deeply enraged by the mass killings of Jews during the war. She started a resistance movement called the White Rose where she printed and distributed leaflets with anti-Nazi information. The young activist was captured by the Gestapo and executed for treason. She believed her death would awaken people to stir to action, and she was right. 

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19. Virginia Hall

Hall was an Allied spy with a prosthetic leg. Her limp didn’t stop her from becoming the first female operative of Britain’s Special Operations Executive to be sent to France. For three years she was a spy there until she was forced to escape by foot through the Pyrenees Mountains. She later became a wireless radio operator, alerting the troops of German invasion, and became a secret agent for the CIA in 1951. 

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20. Josephine Baker

Baker was a famous African American jazz singer, dancer, and actor who made Paris, France her home. She used her celebrity status to assist the French government when the war broke out, collecting information at high society events and helping people threatened by Nazis to obtain visas to escape France. She assisted the Resistance as a spy, smuggling secret messages on her sheet music.    

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