Legends never die...

Lieutenant General Sir Adrian Paul Ghislain Carton de Wiart VC, KBE, CB, CMG, DSO (5 May 1880 – 5 June 1963) was a British Army officer born of Belgian and Irish parents. He was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" in various Commonwealth countries. He served in the Boer War, First World War, and Second World War. He was shot in the face, head, stomach, ankle, leg, hip, and ear; survived two plane crashes; tunnelled out of a prisoner-of-war camp; and tore off his own fingers when a doctor refused to amputate them. Describing his experiences in the First World War, he wrote, "Frankly I had enjoyed the war." Read more...

Cher Ami (French for "dear friend", in the masculine) was a female homing pigeon who had been donated by the pigeon fanciers of Britain for use by the U.S. Army Signal Corps in France during World War I and had been trained by American pigeoners. She is most famous for delivering a message from an encircled battalion despite serious injuries during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, October 1918.

On October 3, 1918, Major Charles White Whittlesey and more than 194 men were trapped in a small depression on the side of the hill behind enemy lines without food or ammunition. They were also beginning to receive friendly fire from allied troops who did not know their location. Surrounded by the Germans, many were killed and wounded in the first day and by the second day, merely 194 men were still alive and not captured. Because his runners were consistently intercepted or killed by the Germans, Whittlesey began dispatching messages by pigeon. The pigeon carrying the first message, "Many wounded. We cannot evacuate." was shot down. A second bird was sent with the message, "Men are suffering. Can support be sent?" That pigeon also was shot down. The artillery batteries supporting Whittlesey's men attempted to provide a "barrage of protection" for Whittlesey's men on the Northern slope of the Charlevaux Ravine, but believed Whittlesey was on the Southern slope of the ravine, resulting in a barrage inadvertently targeting the battalion, Cher Ami was dispatched with a note, written on onion paper, in a canister on her left leg,


As Cher Ami tried to fly back home, the Germans saw her rising out of the brush and opened fire. After several seconds, she was shot down but managed to take flight again. She arrived back at her loft at division headquarters 25 miles (40 km) to the rear in just 25 minutes, helping to save the lives of the 194 survivors. She had been shot through the breast, blinded in one eye, and had a leg hanging only by a tendon.

Cher Ami became the hero of the 77th Infantry Division. Army medics worked to save her life. They were unable to save her leg, so they carved a small wooden one for her.

John A. Chapman (July 14, 1965 – March 4, 2002) was a Combat Controller in the United States Air Force who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on August 22, 2018 for his actions in the Battle of Takur Ghar during the War in Afghanistan. He is the first airman to receive the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War. Chapman was inducted into the Hall of Heroes on August 23, 2018, and posthumously promoted to Master Sergeant on the following day.

Chapman and his team mates were on their way to the insertion point when the helicopter was hit by a RPG and one of their team mates had fallen off. They were trying to recover his body...