December 8, 2012, Laghman Province, Afghanistan. Hostage Rescue Force Team Member and Navy SEAL,
Edward C. Byers, Jr., is part of a mission to free an American hostage, physician Dr. Dilip Joseph,
who’d days earlier been captured by the Taliban. Through the night Byers and his team march for
more than four hours through an unforgiving wilderness. It’s pitch-black. All the men are
wearing night vision goggles. The temperature drops below zero when
the men get close to the compound where it’s believed the hostage is being kept.
Almost there, 75 feet (23 m) to the entrance of the compound,
but then the men are spotted by the insurgents. Petty Officer 1st Class Nicolas D. Checque
races forward and shoots a guard. He enters the compound with Byers right behind him.
Shots are fired, Checque falls. He’s mortally wounded. Byers doesn’t stop. He kicks down the
door where the hostage is, firing at a man and killing him. Another insurgent tries
to pick up a rifle. Byers lurches forward, grabbing the man, and killing him up close.
Bullets are flying. It’s chaos, chaos without light. Byers jumps on Dr. Joseph, shielding
him from harm, but at the same time, he’s got another insurgent by the neck, pinning him to
a wall. Another SEAL enters the room, killing the insurgent who’s trapped by the iron grip of Byers.
Fast forward to 2016. President Obama is placing the Medal of Honor around Byers’ neck. He saved
a hostage, he took out the enemy; he showed undaunted courage and an intrepid fighting spirit.
Mr. Byers was one of the last people to receive the Medal of Honor, and while his story is
straight out of a Hollywood movie, as you will see, there are crazier stories out there. Today
you’ll meet the Badasses. Men who knew no fear. 10. Henry Johnson
You’ve all heard the expression “beyond the call of duty” and what Mr. Johnson did in the
first world war was absolutely beyond what is expected of a soldier. He would go down
in history as the first African American soldier to receive the Medal of Honor.
On May 15, 1918, he was serving with Charlie Company, 369th Infantry Regiment, 93d Infantry
Division, of the American Expeditionary Forces on the front lines of the Western Front in France.
He would become a hero, but perhaps, an unsung hero. You see, at the time, there was a lot of
racism in the military, as well as at home. Some white soldiers gave black soldiers a hard time,
and worse, the American Expeditionary Forces circulated a pamphlet in France
titled “Secret Information Concerning Black American Troops.” That information related
to African American soldiers allegedly being immoral in society and inferior in battle.
That pamphlet couldn’t have been further from the truth.
Johnson’s all-black regiment, nicknamed the “Harlem Hellfighters”, were told by
the French Army to head to the Argonne Forest in the region of Champagne. On the night of
the heroics Johnson was at the observation post when the regiment came under attack by
German soldiers belonging to a raiding party. Johnson didn’t have much time to think and he
threw a grenade at the Germans. They still moved in, so Johnson used the butt of his rifle to
repel the men. He then threw that down and pulled out his bolo knife, stabbing whoever came close.
At times he had to use his other hand, smacking the invaders with his fist.
Then he noticed that one of his fellow soldiers had been injured and two Germans were trying to
pull the man away. Johnson ran at the men with the knife and with his bare fists he
wounded two Germans and managed to drag the injured American soldier back to safety.
During his ordeal he suffered 21 injuries. It was later said that Johnson faced almost
certain death, but with a mighty heart and a fearless attitude he not only saved the
injured man but also the rest of the men. Had he not been so brave the Germans would
have surely captured that outpost. That’s why he got the nickname “The
Black Death” and that’s why he became a hero when he returned home to the U.S.
There he was expected to talk about how blacks and whites fought together in harmony, but Johnson was
a brave man again. Instead he talked about racism and the rough treatment he and other African
Americans had experienced. He fell out of favor then with the military and was even arrested for
wearing his uniform when giving those talks. He died in 1929 from tuberculosis. It wasn’t
until 2003 that he was posthumously awarded the purple heart, and then
in 2015 he was awarded the Medal of Honor. So, how can we top that? Well, hang in there and
you’ll find out. There are a lot of stories to choose from, given that the award has been
bestowed on over 3,500 people. 9. Thomas Ward Custer
So, what’s so special about this guy? The answer is he became the first person ever to receive
the award twice. You’re probably more familiar with his older brother, George Armstrong Custer,
a man who had big ambitions before he was killed fighting native Americans at the Battle of the
Little Bighorn. You’ve likely heard of “Custer’s Last Stand”, in which the American soldiers were
roundly defeated. Thomas died, too, as did their other brother, Boston Custer.
But let's stick with Thomas. On April 3, 1865, he was fighting the Confederates
at the Battle of Namozine Church. During a charge against a Confederate barricade, Custer was
under heavy fire, but he carried on, leaping the barricade. He then captured the confederate flag,
and his men followed him. His horse, well, his horse didn’t do too well. It was shot
and it died. That was Medal of Honor number one. It was only three days later during the Battle
of Sailor's Creek that Custer displayed similar heroics. Alongside his men he led a
charge again, and again he jumped a barricade. He saw the Confederate flag-bearer and charged
at him, only to get shot in the face. Undeterred, he pulled out his weapon and shot the flag-bearer,
killing him. After giving the flag to his older brother he was told to go get treatment, but he
refused, so he had to be man-handled to a doctor. 8. William D. Hawkins
November 20 and 21, 1943, William Hawkins, Scout Sniper Platoon attached to the Second Marines,
Second Marine Division, is fighting the Japanese in the Gilbert Islands in the Pacific Ocean.
This became known as the Battle of Tarawa. One of those islands is called Betio Island,
and it was there that Hawkins with another 40 men were being fired at from machine gun towers.
They were sitting ducks, and it seemed that there wasn’t much they could do.
Hawkins said don’t worry, and he sneaked off. Moments later and he was climbing the first tower.
When he got to the top, he took out the machine gunner close up. Some shrapnel severely injured
him, but Hawkins still had a job to do. He managed to do this in seven towers,
although he was shot in the chest at the last tower. Still, because of his
brave actions the rest of the men could advance. Hawkins was told that his wound didn’t look good,
although he seemed to think it was only a scratch. When he was told to get on a boat and receive more
medical attention, he replied, “I'm not doing it, sir! I came here to kill Japs, not go home!”
He didn’t go home and decided to try and take out an eighth gunner in a tower. He was shot again,
but this time it was a bit more than a scratch. His last words to his fellow soldiers were,
“Boys, I sure hate to leave you like this.” 7. Roy Benavidez
6 hours in hell, how does that sound to you? That’s what Mr. Benavidez experienced
when he was fighting in the Vietnam War. The date was May 2, 1968, and a 12-man Special
Forces patrol along with Vietnamese tribesmen were patrolling the South Vietnamese-Cambodian border
when they came up against what you might call a bit of a problem. That was a 1,000-man-plus NVA
infantry battalion. Talk about being outnumbered. Benavidez wasn’t actually in the 12-man unit
at the time, but when he heard about what had happened he got in a helicopter and told the pilot
to drop him close to the mix. When he was dropped off he started running towards the fight, but was
injured on the way in his face, head and leg. When he did get to the men, many of them were
lying on the ground injured. Benavidez went to their rescue and managed to get them on a Medevac
helicopter. But there was another important mission, because one of the dead men was carrying
classified documents. He couldn’t allow those to get in the hands of the NVA so he went back to
get them, only as he did that the helicopter pilot was shot and killed, causing the chopper to crash.
He went back to the now overturned helicopter and got the injured men out of there. He took
them to a safer place and tried to hide, hoping the airstrike he had called would come soon.
It didn’t. But another helicopter
did arrive. The question was, how to get the injured men on that thing while under fire.
He did his best, ferrying some men on the vehicle and killing one NVA in hand-to-hand
combat. He killed another two with his gun. He suffered severe injuries while all this
was going on. He might have got the injured men on the helicopter, but after that he
just collapsed in a bloody heap. A medic took one look at him and thought it was game over,
so he put Benavidez in a body bag and zipped the thing up. As the zip got to the end of
its journey Benavidez spat in the guy’s face. Listen to this for a bunch of injuries. He had
suffered a collapsed lung, had major gunshot wounds in his body, shrapnel in his head,
butt, feet, legs, scalp and shoulder. If that wasn’t bad enough, he’d taken
great big bayonet slashes to both arms. He was first awarded the Distinguished
Service Cross and then in 1981 he was awarded the Medal of Honor. Ronald Reagan was the president
at the time, and when talking about that day in hell he said, “If the story of his heroism were
a movie script, you would not believe it.” Benavidez died in 1998, not because of his
wartime injuries, but because of complications of diabetes.
Can we beat that story? We think we can. 6. Charles Berry
This is the arguably the saddest story you’ll hear in this show.
On March 3, 1945, Barry was part of a machine-gun Crew, serving with the First Battalion,
Twenty-Sixth Marines, Fifth Marine Division, on Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands. That night
he was on the front line, nervously waiting for a possible sneak attack by the Japanese.
That’s exactly what happened. Just after the clock struck midnight Japanese soldiers came out of the
dark and started throwing grenades at Berry and his company who were all packed into a foxhole.
Berry and the other men threw grenades back, but to the horror of American soldiers one of those
Japanese grenades landed right by them. Without thinking, Berry jumped on it and by doing so
saved his friends. We don’t need to tell you that he was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously.
5. Bryant Womack
On March 12, 1952, Womack was involved in a huge firefight somewhere in Korea.
What’s different with this story is that he wasn’t one of the men shooting, rather he was
a medic that was attending to the injured men. As the only medic for that battalion it was
important that he didn’t get hit, but unfortunately he did get hit,
and hit pretty bad. Nonetheless, he carried on treating the many injured men, knowing that
he was their only hope. They were severely outnumbered and were getting shot to pieces.
Then the worst thing that could happen, happened. Womack was hit by a mortar and it
blew his arm right off. He knew what would happen if he didn’t take care of himself,
but instead of trying to save himself he carried on attending to the injured soldiers.
Before he died of blood loss he managed to tell other men how to treat the injured.
He died while being carried on a stretcher to safety.
4. Randy Shughart and Gary Gordon
This was a double act and happened in 1993 at the Battle of Mogadishu, Somalia.
Both these guys were snipers and the job that they were given was to take out a
Somali warlord named Mohamed Farrah Aidid and anyone that stood between him and them.
During an operation to kill Aidid ‘s best lieutenants, two Black Hawk helicopters
were shot down. You may have heard the words, “Black Hawk Down” at some point in your life.
As U.S. forces were trying to deal with the first helicopter, the other,
Super 64, came crashing down. Both Shughart and Gordon volunteered to head to the crash
site to search for survivors, despite being outnumbered a thousand to one by local militias.
When they got there, all the men aboard the helicopter were dead except for the pilot,
Michael Durant, who was wounded but would survive. Then the worse thing happened.
A mob of militants attacked the three men. They fought back as well as they could, but
the mob came at them in swarms. Both Shughart and Gordon were killed, and Durant was taken hostage.
Durant was eventually released and he went back home to the U.S where his wife and kids
were waiting for him. Concerning what happened that day he has said this, “Without a doubt,
I owe my life to these two men and their bravery...Those guys came in when they had to
know it was a losing battle. There was nobody else left to back them up. If they had not come in,
I wouldn't have survived.” 3. Ryan Pitts
July 13, 2008, Kunar Province, Afghanistan, and Ryan Pitts is serving as a Forward Observer in 2d
Platoon, Chosen Company, 2d Battalion (Airborne), 503d Infantry Regiment, 173d Airborne Brigade.
What’s unique about this story is that Pitts was all alone at the start. He was positioned
at a remote post, protecting the Wanat Vehicle Patrol Base. Early in the morning all hell broke
loose when the base came under fire from over 200 Anti-Afghan Forces. They hit the base with small
arms, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. Pitts tried his best to protect his fellow
soldiers, but in doing that he was hit, suffering severe injuries to his arms and legs. Still, he
got up and opened fire. As the enemy got closer, Pitts understood that it was do or die. One at a
time, he pulled a pin on a grenade, then waited, waited, and threw it so it exploded at the right
time. In doing this he managed to hold them back. But he was so injured that he collapsed.
On the ground, bleeding out, he still managed to fire at the attackers. Two men came to his aid,
and Pitts gave up his gun. Near death, he then crawled to a radio and asked for back up.
He knew quite well that by making that call he would be heard and killed.
Because of what he did he saved the base and saved the lives of many men. He’s alive and well today,
working at the tech company, Oracle. 2. Vernon Baker
Baker did something extremely brave, something you might have seen in a Hollywood movie.
On April 5, 1945, with the second world war almost over, Baker was a 2nd Lieutenant in the
army fighting in the mountains of Italy. There his unit came under heavy machine gun fire and,
well, there wasn’t much they could do about it. They were up against a formidable enemy.
Baker, knowing his men couldn’t move, crawled to one of the machine gun nests and killed
the men in it. He then crawled over to an observation post and killed the guys there.
He was by no means done. With some of his men, he attacked a structure
where the enemy was shooting from, and then those guys were dead. But there was still a big problem.
Some enemy machine gunners were still firing and some of Baker’s guys were severely wounded
and needed to get the hell out of there. What to do?
He thought for a while and knew the answer. After telling the other men about his plan
he took a gun and purposely exposed himself to the enemy. If they were firing at him,
the other guys would be able to escape. He actually survived and helped save a lot of people.
Not only that, the next day he volunteered to lead a battalion through a minefield.
He didn’t get the Medal of Honor until 1997, when he was 77 years old. It was
agreed then that some African Americans should have got the medal back in the day.
1. Richard Nott Antrim This one is different from all of the others.
During the second world war Lieutenant Antrim served on the ship the USS Pope.
He helped sink a number of Japanese ships and for that his captain said that he should
be commended for his “meritorious performance of his several duties.”
But that’s not why he received the Medal of Honor. During the Battle of the Java Sea in 1942,
the successful Pope met its end. It was sunk and Antrim was injured. Nonetheless,
he was a lodestone when it came to getting the men on rafts and getting them supplies.
This didn’t mean he was out of trouble. The Japanese Navy picked him and other
men up and took them as prisoners of war. As you might have heard, the Japanese could
be brutal at times to their POWs, and that happened under the watch
of Antrim. One day he witnessed an American POW being accused of not bowing to a guard
and being told he was going to get 50 lashes. On the 15th lash the man was cut to pieces
and was unconscious. He would not survive many more lashes.
Antrim stood up and said, “I'll take the rest.” The Japanese were in shock. Antrim
knew that 35 lashes might well end his life. Still, he added, “I'll take the lashes.”
The Japanese soldiers kind of respected him for this, and he didn’t get lashed.
That’s not where his story ends, though, because having gained this new respect
the Japanese listened to Antrim when he offered them advice about building some trenches.
They allowed him to build the trenches the way he wanted, not knowing that when he and
his men were done from the air you could see the letters, US. He did that so allied planes wouldn’t
bomb the site, and by doing so he might have saved hundreds of lives. If the Japanese had caught him,
he would have lost his head for sure. Now you need to watch this, “The Battle of
the Bulge.” Or have a look at this, “The Battle of Leyte Gulf - Most INSANE Naval Battle in History.”