5 soldiers that make rambo look weak

[Rockthekazbah12]

http://www.cracked.com/article_17019_5-real-life-soldiers-who-make-rambo-look-like-pussy.html

[Cstafford]

Jack Churchill sounds like the crazyist most badass mother****er who has ever lived. a ****in sword and bagpipes?? hot damn that is awesome

[Johnny_H02]

I really liked the story about the Indian Soldier who fought at the battle of "Tiger Hill" I hadn't heard that story before.

[Aerosoul]

I like Simo Haya and Alvin York.

[Wilco]

What about Sergeant Major Bradley Kasal?


http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/9744/kasalbade2.jpg
http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/3278/kasalnw4.jpg



By the time he was carried out of the house by LCpl. Chris Marquez and LCpl. Dan Shaffer, Kasal had lost approximately 60 percent of his blood.

[TDuck]

Where's Carlos Hathcock on this list?

[pfcsmith1371]

This thread is overflowing with GAR

[Backwoodshunter]

Bob Howard of the SOG unit in vietnam should be on there

[Alpheus]

Where is Chesty Puller? Outrageous.

[Aerosoul]

Quit your bitchin', pussies.

[MN_Air]

quite frankly the most awesome list I have ever read.

[ltrowley]

My vote is for Simo, I've heard about that guy before. 100%

[ronnieraygun]

quite frankly the most awesome list I have ever read.

then keep reading. five does not cover it.

[ronnieraygun]

Where is Chesty Puller? Outrageous.

at least someone mentioned Sgt. York

[Backwoodshunter]

Smedley Butler of the usmc also deserves honorable mention

[MN_Air]

if you guys complain about all of these people who didn't make it, why don't you make a list of them so we can all see how bad@ss they are to. because the list would be a million people long, because anyone who serves in my eyes is a BAMF.

[Lefty]

There were some names on here I hadn't seen before, I think it's good cracked put some effort in and pulled some that I hadn't seen much on. I actually wish the list was longer though.

You could put a lot of badassery in there.

[kuttless]

who saluted and said "Corporal York reports with prisoners, sir." When the stunned officer asked how many, York replied "Honest, Lieutenant, I don't know."


Classic line. Theres tons of people who should have been on this list but at least number was on the mark.

[Backwoodshunter]

if you guys complain about all of these people who didn't make it, why don't you make a list of them so we can all see how bad@ss they are to. because the list would be a million people long, .

Im pretty sure we're just conversing, on a forum designed for such

[ViktorBravo]

He is best known for saying that "any officer who goes into action without his sword is improperly dressed" and, in following with this, for carrying a sword into battle. In WWII.

Now THAT is badass.

[helomech]

That's a great list and the soldiers I had not previously heard of:Simo Hayha,Mad Jack Churchill and Yogendra Singh Yadav are pure badass

[ggk]

where is zhang tao fang?

[digrar]

where is zhang tao fang?

Same places as Charles Upham and Albert Jacka. Not on the list, but still making Rambo look pale in comparison.

[kahn267]

goes with the IDF commander who picked up and threw a terrrorist onto a grenade as a shield to save himself and protect his soldiers

http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/SgrUeou3MlE



That Haya guy is pure bad ass

[HollywoodMarine]

Private First Class Guy Louis Gabaldon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pied_piper_of_saipan) (22 March 1926 – 31 August 2006) was a United States Marine who was credited with capturing (or persuading to surrender) about 1,500 Japanese soldiers and civilians during the Battle of Saipan (1944) in World War II.

[IDF_TANKER]

Or this one.
http://www.badassoftheweek.com/greengold.html

[wilhelm]

What about the Norwegian Viking warrior who held the bridge at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066? It was said he held up the entire Saxon Army and personally killed 40 Saxon soldiers. This being literally hand to hand, remember.

[Moledet]

What about the Norwegian Viking warrior who held the bridge at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066? It was said he held up the entire Saxon Army and personally killed 40 Saxon soldiers. This being literally hand to hand, remember.
What about king Leonidas?
Was he fighting against machine guns and tanks? No? So he isn't as badass as that list.

[Troubadour]

Most of the medal honor winners are more badass then some of the dudes on there.

The guy who came in 5th was way more badass then any of them actually. He killed over 700 guys by himself and lived through having half of his head taken off. Audie Murphy doesn't have **** on that.

[Fallap]

Major Anders Lassen VC, MC**

Took out ~ five MG nest singlehandlely with grenades

[IDF_TANKER]

Most of the medal honor winners are more badass then some of the dudes on there.

The guy who came in 5th was way more badass then any of them actually. He killed over 700 guys by himself and lived through having half of his head taken off. Audie Murphy doesn't have **** on that.

Well, number of killed enemy doesn't necessarily translates directly into one's bravery or badassness. From these five Audie and that Indian guy impressed me most. To keep pushing forward despite being wounded and under fire in this kind of face-to-face combat is as badass as it gets.

[IDF_TANKER]

I think we have a new contender here:

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=150952

[Troubadour]

Well, number of killed enemy doesn't necessarily translates directly into one's bravery or badassness. From these five Audie and that Indian guy impressed me most. To keep pushing forward despite being wounded and under fire in this kind of face-to-face combat is as badass as it gets.


Eh, I don't know Murphy was a trained soldier who was doing a job. Simo was a civilian who grabbed a rifle, then went after Russian soldiers. He killed entire search and destroy parties of men who had come after him. Killed countless counter-snipers who were way more trained then him. Basically, Simo was just naturally way more badass then anyone ever.

The whole entire list is a bunch of guys who are way more badass then I will ever be. I would of been in the part of the story "was mowed down by enemy fire and died like a bitch".

[Adux]

In my opinion bravery between braves should never be measured, I am sure they wouldnt want that.

[Vince S]

http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=collections/cmdp/mainmenu/group01/cdn_vc

Few other badasses p-)

[Hecatonchiros]

Simo was a civilian who grabbed a rifle, then went after Russian soldiers.

I dunno where the guy who wrote the article got the idea from, but Simo wasn't a civilian, he was called to service like other reservists sometime before the war.

He was also a member of the Civil Guard and an avid hunter, so you could say he got plenty of practice before the real deal.

[Adux]

The Gallant 21: Param Vir Chakra winners so far

http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/LAND-FORCES/images/bharath/Article11a.gif
The Param Vir Chakra is the highest gallantry award for officers and other enlisted personnel of all military branches of India, for the highest degree of bravery, in the presence of the enemy. The PVC is the post-independence equivalent of the Victoria Cross - Britain's highest medal for gallantry.
The PVC was established on 26 January 1950, by the President of India, with effect from 15 August 1947, and presently it is the second highest award of the Government of India, after the Bharat Ratna (amendment in the statute on 26 January 1980, resulted in this order of wearing).
The medal was designed by Mrs. Savitri Khanolankar (born Eva Yuonne Linda Maday-de-Maros to a Hungarian father and Russian mother) who was married to an Indian Army officer. By coincidence, the first PVC was posthumously awarded to her son-in-law, Major Somnath Sharma for his bravery in the Kashmir operations in October 1947. The medal was designed to symbolise Rishi Dadich, who donated his thigh bones to gods for making Vajra and Shivaji's sword Bhawani.
The medal is of 1-3/8" radius and is made of bronze. In the center, on a raised circle is the state emblem, surrounding which are the four replicas of Indra's Vajra. The decoration is suspended from a straight swiveling suspension bar. On the rear, around a plain center, two legends separated by lotus flowers. The words Param Vir Chakra are written in Hindi and English.
The ribbon which holds the PVC is of 32mm length and purple in colour. The award carries a cash allowance for those under the rank of Second Lieutenant (or the appropriate service equivalent) and, in some cases, a lump-sum cash award. Subedar Major Bana Singh, 8 JAK LI, was the only serving personnel of the Indian defence establishment, with a PVC, till the Kargil operations. Lieutenant Colonel (retd.) Dhan Singh Thapa, 1/8 GR, was the other surviving PVC awardee, till the Kargil operations. He was awarded the PVC, when he was a Major.



Grenadier Yogender Singh Yadav

http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/LAND-FORCES/images/bharath/Yadav.jpg Grenadier Yogender Singh Yadav, 18 Grenadiers, in the wee morning hours of 04 July 1999 was part of the Commando 'Ghatak' Platoon tasked to capture three strategic bunkers on Tiger Hill. The approach was a vertical cliff face, snowbound at 16,500 feet. Grenadier Yadav, volunteering to lead the assault, was climbing the cliff face and fixing the ropes for further assault on the feature. Half-way up, an enemy bunker opened up machine gun and rocket fire. His Platoon Commander and 2 others fell to the heavy volume of automatic fire. Realising the enormity of the situation, he continued to scale the sheer cliff face alone through a volley of fire. In spite of having been hit by three bullets in his groin and shoulder, displaying superhuman strength and resolve, he climbed the remaining 60 feet, all by himself and reached the top. With rare grit and courage, he crawled up to the bunker critically injured and lobbed a grenade killing four Pakistani soldiers and neutralising enemy fire. This act was directly instrumental in facilitating the rest of the platoon in climbing up the cliff face.
Grievously injured, but with reckless disregard to personal safety, Grenadier Yadav now charged on to the second bunker and neutralised it, with two of his colleagues in an extremely fierce hand-to-hand combat, killing three Pakistani soldiers. Yhis extraordinarily gallant act motivated the rest of the platoon which quickly traversed the treacherous terrain and braving hostile fire, charged onto the enemy to capture Tiger Hill, a vital objective. Throughout this operation, from scaling the sheer vertical cliff face by rope for destruction of 2 Pakistani bunkers in succession, Grenadier Yadav displayed indomitable spirit, determination and action beyond the call of the duty. For his sustained display of the most conspicuous personal bravery and gallantry of the highest order in the face of the enemy, Grenadier Yogender Singh Yadav was awarded the Param Vir Chakra, India's highest medal for gallantry. Jai Hind!! Jai Jawan!!


This guy should be my age now, Brilliant! What men do for their country.

[Ksiunc]

In my opinion bravery between braves should never be measured, I am sure they wouldnt want that.

Just quoted for everybody to remember.

[PressCheck]

Smedley Butler of the usmc also deserves honorable mention

It's always USMC.

[Gleipnir]

Pier Gerlofs Donia


What about the Norwegian Viking warrior who held the bridge at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066? It was said he held up the entire Saxon Army and personally killed 40 Saxon soldiers. This being literally hand to hand, remember.

Indeed- If I remember correctly, he was killed when one Harold's men crossed the river in a barrel and then killed him from behind.

[Mofreaka]

Or this one.
http://www.badassoftheweek.com/greengold.html

Holy **** dude! I had never heard of this before, that is simply amazing lol.

Check out this other list: Top 10 Manliest Names
(http://www.cracked.com/article_14982_9-manliest-names-in-world.html) Simply because of the number 1. That's awesome lol.

[Adux]

I just read about greengold, What a man!

Tanker,

You have some high standards of valor and talent to measure upto,

Godspeed!

[walford]

Audie Murphy certainly belongs on any short list of badasses.

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/6936/200pxaudiemurphyuniformjf6.jpg

This got him a Medal of Honor [after he got a Distinguished Service Cross and 2 Silver Stars for earlier actions]:
Second Lt. Murphy commanded Company B, which was attacked by six tanks and waves of infantry. 2d Lt. Murphy ordered his men to withdraw to a prepared position in a woods, while he remained forward at his command post and continued to give fire directions to the artillery by telephone. Behind him, to his right, one of our tank destroyers received a direct hit and began to burn. Its crew withdrew to the woods. 2d Lt. Murphy continued to direct artillery fire, which killed large numbers of the advancing enemy infantry. With the enemy tanks abreast of his position, 2d Lt. Murphy climbed on the burning tank destroyer, which was in danger of blowing up at any moment, and employed its .50 caliber machine gun against the enemy. He was alone and exposed to German fire from three sides, but his deadly fire killed dozens of Germans and caused their infantry attack to waver. The enemy tanks, losing infantry support, began to fall back. For an hour the Germans tried every available weapon to eliminate 2d Lt. Murphy, but he continued to hold his position and wiped out a squad that was trying to creep up unnoticed on his right flank. Germans reached as close as 10 yards, only to be mowed down by his fire. He received a leg wound, but ignored it and continued his single-handed fight until his ammunition was exhausted. He then made his way back to his company, refused medical attention, and organized the company in a counterattack, which forced the Germans to withdraw. His directing of artillery fire wiped out many of the enemy; he killed or wounded about 50. 2d Lt. Murphy's indomitable courage and his refusal to give an inch of ground saved his company from possible encirclement and destruction, and enabled it to hold the woods which had been the enemy's objectiveAt the end of the war, he had 3 dozen medals.

[Red-Phos]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_McAleese
Nails.

[Dan2004]

Smedley Butler of the usmc also deserves honorable mention

Definitely Smedley Butler. He was the original Jack Bauer for chrissakes. He (almost) singlehandedly foiled a plot to overthrow the United States government by means of a military coup - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_plot

Also, he was a champion of veteran's rights, which makes him a hero in my book.

[Backwoodshunter]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_McAleese
Nails.

Hes got a book out which is a good read. He also was hired for and launched an operation that was intended to kill Pablo Escobar. He probably would have succeeded but his helicopter crashed in the mountains en route.

[Squeezee]

That was hilarious, the colorful language made it even better :D.

[nemowork]

Pier Gerlofs Donia



Indeed- If I remember correctly, he was killed when one Harold's men crossed the river in a barrel and then killed him from behind.
Nope, the guy got under the bridge and got him somewhere really sensitive with a spear. Bravery is commendable but sometimes sneaky and cautious has its moments.

[pfcsmith1371]

Captain John Ripley(USMC) for his actions at the Dong Ha Bridge.

[AmoebaProject]

No Russians, I am offended.

[Alpheus]

repost too.

[muttbutt]

Captain Charles Upham Kiwi, VC x 2 (most people die getting one), after being liberated from a German POW camp, insted of going home, he raided the germans ammo dump to grab weapons to go out and hunt Germans, had to be physically restrained from doing so and a permenent guard had to be placed on him untill they could ship him out.......p-)

[Kaplanr]

I'll add a 6th.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y7/vnpeker/voenwina_Israeli/zvika_greengold_12233.jpg
Zvi "Zvika" Greengold (born 1952)
At noon on Yom Kippur, Zvika Gringold was at home on Kibbutz Lohamei Hagettaot. At 14.00 hours, Air Force planes began passing overhead. He rushed to a radio to hear that war had broken out, put on his uniform and went out to hitch a lift. At his unit base, "There was no-one to give orders. We opened a half-track radio set, and I suggested I retake command of my old company."

Zvika's suggestion was approved by radio. He raced up to the forward post at Nafah crossroads on the Golan: there was no way to reach the forward line, where a few tanks were still fighting. Four damaged tanks stood near the camp gate; armourers tried to repair them. Two hours passed.

Zvika radioed the bridge commander to report that he had a "force" ready for battle and received the code name "Zvika's Force". Close to 21.00 hours, the entire southern Golan tank force heard the radio report that "Zvika's Force" was going into action. One crewman later said: "It was very encouraging; a sign that reinforcements had arrived. We were convinced "Zvika's Force" was coming to our rescue." He had no idea that Zvika had only two damaged tanks - nor did the Brigadier.

But on the Hushniye axis there were some hundreds of Syrian tanks, which had crossed between the front line positions and poured on with nothing to stop them. Zvika's two tanks moved in line abreast, slowly, carefully. After an hour, Zvika spotted his first Syrian tank, near the crossroads.

"I fired and he burst into flames. There was a terrific flash so I backed away fast. Then I found the radio wasn't working. I moved to the other tank and changed places with its commander. I told him, 'Watch me and do as I do, if possible'. Within a short time, a second Syrian arrived and we set him ablaze. I saw others, then noticed that the tank alongside me had vanished. I was alone, and surrounded from the front and to the right. I fired in both directions, destroying a number, moving backwards all the time. They began a search with lights. I destroyed a few more. The brigadier asked over the radio how many tanks I had. I told him: 'My situation isn't good and I can't tell you how many.'

The brigade radio reports were desperate everywhere; lack of fuel and ammunition. "A feeling of helplessness overtook everyone," Zvika says, "including the commander, because he had no reserve forces".

Close to midnight, Zvika noticed that a few tanks from another brigade had arrived to help. They were still an insignificant force, but they decided to advance along the Petroleum Road in two parallel columns, covering each other. "We tried to advance, but our first tank was set ablaze immediately by a bazooka. The road was blocked by tanks with searchlights. I moved up to give cover from the flank. Suddenly all three of us were ablaze. My gunner was injured; I felt the shock and the searing flame and pulled myself out. I was lying flat on the ground, but realized that the tank could explode; I went back to another of our tanks and then noticed I'd been wounded in my upper arms and on the left side of my face. I climbed into the tank and asked its commander to turn around.

From time to time, Lt. Zvika's sole tank on the Petroleum Road would sally out, fire, hit a Syrian tank, set it ablaze and dash back in again. At 03.00 hours: it stopped firing rather than wear down the remaining forces, waiting until morning for additional tanks or Air Force support.

At dawn, Zvika was joined by a company of tanks. He deployed the force against possible attack by Syrian aircraft and armor and asked the brigadier to send 'somebody more serious' to command. The brigadier promised to come personally. While they were still talking, the Syrian artillery opened fire on "Zvika's Force", immediately followed by a tank charge.

"A battle began at a range of 1,500 yards - armour against armour. They had a whole armoured division, but didn't know how to fight," Zvika remembers. "During the day, it went very well, considering there were only 16 of us. Towards noon the situation was definitely improving. "

But this was a Syrian trap: while their armour was battling "Zvika's Force", another force was bypassing to assault Nafah cross-roads and the nearby command post. Zvika was ordered to withdraw to Nafah, where there were no tanks to meet the Syrians. As the Syrian tanks reached the camp fences, Zvika and Shai in two tanks got into the camp to try and stop them. But when Zvika's driver saw soldiers fleeing before the Syrians, he went into shock and raced out of the camp on a half-track. Zvika was driverless in a damaged, unusable tank.

Best Hollywood could do?
Kelly's Heros.

[SBL]

This thing reads like a military channel program.

[BlackFlag]

Audie Murphy for the win.

[big_les]

Jack Churchill sounds like the crazyist most badass mother****er who has ever lived. a ****in sword and bagpipes?? hot damn that is awesome

Awesome, yes, although the "fvcking claymore" in question was not the two-handed type, and especially not the fantasy monstrosity in the cracked.com article picture. In fact compared to an 18th century one, it pretty much WAS "one of those sissy ceremonial things". It would still kill people of course, although I think he killed more Germans with his bow than with the sword (if indeed he did kill any with the sword - he's recorded as getting two with the bow).

[Dave76]

On presenting Benavidez with the Medal of Honor, President Reagan turned to the gathered press and said: "You are going to hear something you would not believe if it were a script." He then read Master Sergeant Benavidez's citation:

BENAVIDEZ, ROY P. Rank and organization:Master Sergeant. Organization: Detachment B-56, 5th Special Forces Group, Republic of Vietnam Place and date: West of Loc Ninh on May 2, 1968 Entered service at: Houston, Texas June 1955 Born:August 5, 1935, DeWitt County, Cuero, Texas.

Citation: Master Sergeant, then Staff Sergeant, United States Army. Who distinguished himself by a series of daring and extremely glorious actions on 2 May 1968 while assigned to Detachment B-56, Fifth Special Forces Group (Airborne), First Special Forces, Republic of Vietnam.

On the morning of 2 May 1968, a twelve man Special Forces Reconnaissance Team was inserted by helicopters in a dense jungle area west of Loc Ninh, Vietnam to gather intelligence information about confirmed large-scale enemy activity. This area was controlled and routinely patrolled by the North Vietnamese Army. After a short period of time on the ground, the team met heavy enemy resistance and requested emergency extraction.

Three helicopters attempted extraction, but were unable to land due to intense enemy small arms and anti-aircraft fire. Sergeant Benavidez was at the Forward Operating Base in Loc Ninh monitoring the operation by radio when these helicopters returned to off-load wounded crew members and to assess aircraft damage. Sergeant Benavidez voluntarily boarded a returning aircraft to assist in another extraction attempt. Realizing that all the team members were either dead or wounded and unable to move to the pickup zone, he directed the aircraft to a nearby clearing where he jumped from the hovering helicopter, and ran approximately 75 meters under withering small arms fire to the crippled team.

Prior to reaching the team's position he was wounded in his right leg, face and head. Despite these painful injuries he took charge, repositioning the team members and directing their fire to facilitate the landing of an extraction aircraft, and the loading of wounded and dead team members. He then threw smoke canisters to direct the aircraft to the team's position. Despite his severe wounds and under intense enemy fire, he carried and dragged half of the wounded team members to the awaiting aircraft.

He then provided protective fire by running alongside the aircraft as it moved to pick up the remaining team members. As the enemy's fire intensified, he hurried to recover the body and classified documents on the dead team leader. When he reached the leader's body, Sergeant Benavidez was severely wounded by small arms fire in the abdomen and grenade fragments in his back. At nearly the same moment, the aircraft pilot was mortally wounded, and his helicopter crashed. Although in extremely critical condition due to his multiple wounds, Sergeant Benavidez secured the classified documents and made his way back to the wreckage, where he aided the wounded out of the overturned aircraft, and gathered the stunned survivors into a defensive perimeter.

Under increasing enemy automatic weapons and grenade fire, he moved around the perimeter distributing water and ammunition to his weary men, reinstilling in them a will to live and fight. Facing a buildup of enemy opposition with a beleaguered team, Sergeant Benavidez mustered his strength, began calling in tactical air-strikes and directed the fire from supporting gun ships to suppress the enemy's fire and so permit another extraction attempt. He was wounded again in his thigh by small arms fire while administering first aid to a wounded team member just before another extraction helicopter was able to land. His indomitable spirit kept him going as he began to ferry his comrades to the craft. On his second trip with the wounded, he was clubbed with additional wounds to his head and arms before killing his adversary. He then continued under devastating fire to carry the wounded to the helicopter.

Upon reaching the aircraft, he spotted and killed two enemy soldiers who were rushing the craft from an angle that prevented the aircraft door gunner from firing upon them. With little strength remaining, he made one last trip to the perimeter to ensure that all classified material had been collected or destroyed, and to bring in the remaining wounded.
Only then, in extremely serious condition from numerous wounds and loss of blood, did he allow himself to be pulled into the extraction aircraft. Sergeant Benavidez' gallant choice to voluntarily join his comrades who were in critical straits, to expose himself constantly to withering enemy fire, and his refusal to be stopped despite numerous severe wounds, saved the lives of at least eight men.

His fearless personal leadership, tenacious devotion to duty, and extremely valorous actions in the face of overwhelming odds were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service, and reflect the utmost credit on him and the United States Army.

[Ngati Tumatauenga]

Bombardier Michael Niven 2nd NZEF

In the early morning of 27 Nov 1941, the men of 5th Bde HQ encamped around Sidi Azeiz in the Libyan desert were warned of 40 German tanks approaching from the direction of Bardia.

Amongst the defenders were four 2-pounder anti-tank gun crews of the 7th Anti-tank regiment. The four gun portees were driven to a slight rise 200 yards beyond the Bde defensive perimeter where they took up firing positions. From these exposed positions the guns opened fire on the approaching armour at a range of 1200 yards and whilst they scored hits, most shells bounced harmlessly of the German tanks.

The four guns soon attracted fire from the approaching armour and soon all the guns had received direct hits.

Knowing full well the odds were hopeless, the gunners nevertheless carried out their drills in parade ground fashion and the No1 of P4, Bombardier Michael Niven, gave his orders quietly and calmly, allowing three rounds for each tank engaged, until the gun was hit and it's traversing and elevating gears wrecked.

When all the guns were hit and most of the gunners now casualties, the unhurt Bdr Niven walked calmly around all the guns, collecting the wounded, who he drove to the ADS. He then drove the lorry with the one servicable gun back into action, which just happened to be in front of Brigadier Hargest's slit trench. Hargest watched 'in wonder and admiration' as Niven single handedly engaged the advancing tanks at close range, undertaking the work of four men to do so. Niven's actions brought down a mass of fire upon his position, and in short order the gun and truck were destroyed.

Undaunted, Niven made his way to a nearby artillery piece and assisted the crew till that gun was damaged by enemy fire. He then assisted a Bofors crew until that too was put out of action and he ended up fighting with E troop of 5 Field Regiment in the final stand of Hargest's HQ.

Taken prisoner, Niven was eventually shipped to Germany where he attempted to escape a number of times, at one point reaching Czechoslovakia where he was picked up by the Gestapo in a routine street check. He was tortured by them for two months before being returned to Germany. He escaped again on 1 April 1945 and made his way westward till he linked upi with the advancing allied armies.

He was never recommended for, nor did he recieve a single gallantry award.

[commanding]

On presenting Benavidez with the Medal of Honor, President Reagan turned to the gathered press and said: "You are going to hear something you would not believe if it were a script." He then read Master Sergeant Benavidez's citation:

BENAVIDEZ, ROY P. Rank and organization:Master Sergeant. Organization: Detachment B-56, 5th Special Forces Group, Republic of Vietnam Place and date: West of Loc Ninh on May 2, 1968 Entered service at: Houston, Texas June 1955 Born:August 5, 1935, DeWitt County, Cuero, Texas.

Citation: Master Sergeant, then Staff Sergeant, United States Army. Who distinguished himself by a series of daring and extremely glorious actions on 2 May 1968 while assigned to Detachment B-56, Fifth Special Forces Group (Airborne), First Special Forces, Republic of Vietnam.

.

Double that for Benavidez, he was a Texan, and a great soldier!! That date of May 1968, our country needed heroes too, right after the Tet offensive of Jan-Feb 1968.
RIP Sgt. Benavidez

[Kingcoma]

All Finnish fighters during Winter war (WWII) are real heroes.
So few! but with an incredible strength and scared the **** of the Russian bear.

[Strongie]

All Finnish fighters during Winter war (WWII) are real heroes.
So few! but with an incredible strength and scared the **** of the Russian bear.

No arguing there, the current and future Finnish generations have huge shoes to fill.

[Rudolph]

Simo Hayha - wow! I've got a documentary with some footage on him, I'll see if it's on YouTube.

[Basillicus]

That Simo Häyhä article takes some artistic freedoms. These Finnish tree snipers are a total myth. There's no point climbing in a tree, it would suicidal.

And secondly I'm pretty sure that picture of a dude with a mask is not even a Finnish soldier:
- I've never ever even heard any Finnish soldier using masks like that since they are useless. And especially snipers need a good field of vision so looking the world through such small peep holes would be stupid. You'd just freeze your face or get shot before because you can't see sh1t.
- I don't know what that rifle is, but it doesn't look like a Mosin-Nagant derivate that Häyhä and Finnish frontline troops used exclusively (second line troops had all kinds of misc. European rifles). And it seems to be a very short carbine version which wouldn't probably be very accurate.
- Finally, in the larger version of the same picture (this one in clipped a bit) there's a bayonet attached to the rifle. I doubt any sniper would attach a bayo since then you'd have to re-zero the sights, and what the hell is a sniper going to do with a bayonet anyway.

[bersaglieri]

Awesome, yes, although the "fvcking claymore" in question was not the two-handed type, and especially not the fantasy monstrosity in the cracked.com article picture. In fact compared to an 18th century one, it pretty much WAS "one of those sissy ceremonial things". It would still kill people of course, although I think he killed more Germans with his bow than with the sword (if indeed he did kill any with the sword - he's recorded as getting two with the bow).

Major Churchill carried a basket hilted broadsword or claymore (claidheamh mor) which was a 17-18th century weapon. The sword type shown in the article is a two handed sword (claidheamh da laimh) and from earlier times. A claymore is 3 feet of double edged fullered steel which will really spoil your day!

[Mastermind]

^I'm thinking the picture was a "file" photo of some guy in cold weather gear of the day...who knows Finnish or otherwise. It was probably to only represent the hero since the guys face was pretty much gargled by the exploding bullet he took. I'm not overly doubting the story or the photo. As for shooting from a tree, why not? If you are 350-500 yards away in one tree of four thousand trees, who the hell is going to spot you? Especially if your position is separated from that of the enemy by rough ground covered in five feet of fresh snow. We simply don't know the exact conditions of weather and terrain in which the guy was operating each day. Having that kind fo kill count is still amazing.

[greatza1]

What`s worth to mention about Simo is that he didn`t use a scope on his rifle , only iron sights (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_sight)

[Kit]

These foot soliders are pretty harecore, but to be a pilot in WWII took some balls too. Hans Ulrich Rudel probably had the biggest.

Only thing more dangerous than being a fighter pilot was being a bomber pilot. Bombers are slow, clumsy, and primary targets by any defenders. Also, by nature, dive bombers have to careen towards THE GROUND, which is against the instict of any pilot. They have to do this while flak is exploding all around them, and fighters buzzing around, while staying on target, even when your wingmate Porkins got blasted. Seriously, that takes balls.

He was also asked for suggestions on how to design the A-10, which is the world's most bassass close air support plane.

Sure he was a Nazi, but if you take that all away, you're left with one hell of a pilot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans-Ulrich_Rudel

[[WDW]Megaraptor]

They forgot to mention that Jack Churchill was the only British soldier in WW2 to kill an enemy soldier with a longbow (which he did while on a night recon patrol on the perimeter at Dunkirk).

Pretty smart thing to do too, as a longbow is much quieter than a gunshot. Mad Jack may have been crazy but he wasn't an idiot.

[madmonkey37]

http://www.cracked.com/article_17019_5-real-life-soldiers-who-make-rambo-look-like-pussy.html

[digrar]

Been done, this is the third time in the last 3 days.

[Cipher]

Jack Churchill sounds like the crazyist most badass mother****er who has ever lived. a ****in sword and bagpipes?? hot damn that is awesome
That guy was retarded and got a lot of his guys killed.

[Chulo]

I really liked the story about the Indian Soldier who fought at the battle of "Tiger Hill" I hadn't heard that story before.
the writing is awesome

For his gallantry and sheer ballsiness, he was awarded the Param Vir Chakra, India's highest military award. Unlike the Medal of Honor, the Param Vir Chakra is only given for "rarest of the rare gallantry which is beyond the call of duty and which in normal life is considered impossible to do." That's right, you actually have to break the laws of reality just to be eligible.

[Holycrusader]

My personal sniper heroes
http://www.badassoftheweek.com/zaitsev.html I recently finnish to read his diaries :)
http://www.badassoftheweek.com/pavlichenko.html

[lag]

wow, thx for the link.

this guys are freaking' crazy :)

[Eoin666]

What about the Norwegian Viking warrior who held the bridge at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066? It was said he held up the entire Saxon Army and personally killed 40 Saxon soldiers. This being literally hand to hand, remember.

But got stabbed in the arsehole for it......his one weak point, his Achilles starfish

[walford]

These foot soliders are pretty harecore, but to be a pilot in WWII took some balls too. Hans Ulrich Rudel probably had the biggest.

Only thing more dangerous than being a fighter pilot was being a bomber pilot. Bombers are slow, clumsy, and primary targets by any defenders. Also, by nature, dive bombers have to careen towards THE GROUND, which is against the instict of any pilot. They have to do this while flak is exploding all around them, and fighters buzzing around, while staying on target, even when your wingmate Porkins got blasted. Seriously, that takes balls.

He was also asked for suggestions on how to design the A-10, which is the world's most bassass close air support plane.

Sure he was a Nazi, but if you take that all away, you're left with one hell of a pilot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans-Ulrich_Rudel
I cannot call all of the German soldiers in WWII NAZIs. Most of them were professional soldiers who were serving their country and many despised Hitler. Just as it was with the footsoldiers, German military aviators were not rotated out of service after a tour, and were kept fighting until they were either killed [which was most likely] or the war ended.

Consequently, German fighter pilots racked up unbelievable kill counts. The top U.S. ace had 38 victories, while there were several German fighter pilots with well over 200.

That being said, I would like to give some recognition to USMC pilot Joe Foss who shot down nearly 2 dozen Japanese aircraft during 6-week period the early part of the war at Guadalcanal -- and this was with an F4F Wildcat, which was inferior in many ways to the Zero-sen that he came up against.

[domokun]

These foot soliders are pretty harecore, but to be a pilot in WWII took some balls too. Hans Ulrich Rudel probably had the biggest.

Sure he was a Nazi, but if you take that all away, you're left with one hell of a pilot.

Hans Ulrich Rudel and Erich Hartmann were quite impressive soldiers. But that list is bit different in it's approach. Rudel was nazi and apparently complete a$$hole, most of his comrades in arms pretty much despised him. Rudel is after Thomas Ferebee in amount stuff wrecked. His kill record is impressive. One thing in him that amazes me is fact that he returned to service every time got shot down, about 30 times.

Hartmann was pretty much opposite in all other things but skill.

Another guy that should be on all toughest guys lists is Miyamoto Musashi.

[SpartanWarrior198]

Where's Carlos Hathcock on this list?
That's exactly what I was thinking when reading that article.

[Rad Resistance]

Great soldier was Oberstrumbannfurher Hans Dorr from 5th SS Panzer Division kicked ass,Unterstrumfurher Herman Maringgle of 8th SS "Florian Geyer" was a great soldier even won close combat clasp in gold, better then knights cross.

[PEMM]

Id say most of the people who got Mannerheim Cross were quite extraordinary. For example:

Ilomäki Toivo, who destroyed 22 enemy tanks from short distances using anti-tank gun in two different battles.

Theres site that has descriptions of all the 191 Mannerheim Cross knights. Shame its in finnish.

[makavelli]

nice read....!