List of people known as war heroes (original) (raw)

This list of notable war heroes does not make judgements about what constitutes "true" heroism, but rather acknowledges the fact that the term is normally used to designate anyone serving a miltary role in time of hostilities, who is treated as an outstanding example of honorable service by their chain of command, and especially by their comrades in arms and that portion of the populace of their state (and allied states) that identifies with the state's war aims. In particular, being free of guilt as a war criminal, or as a traitor, is in no sense implied by inclusion here.

A-F

• Arnold, Benedict
• Cincinnatus, Lucius Quinctius (519-438 BCE), dictator rei gerendae causa (commander in chief), Roman Republic, campaign against Aequi, 458 BCE, resolved crisis with them and Volsci by defeating them in 16 days (but noted especially for immediately retiring rather than seeking to continue to rule); golden wreath
• Decatur, Stephen (1779 January 5 - 1820 March 22) , lt U.S. Navy; harbor of Tripoli, First Barbary War, February 16, 1804, burning of the captured USS Philadelphia
• Eisenhower, Dwight gen then General of the Army, U.S. Army, SHAEF; WW II, Western Front of invasion of Germany, December 1943 - May 1945

G-L

• Gibson, Guy (1918-1944), wing commander, UK RAF 617 Squadron; Operation Downwood, WW II, 1943, destruction of two large dams in Ruhr area; Victoria Cross
• Hannibal
• Horatius Cocles, Roman, Etruscan wars
• Julius Caesar, Roman Emperor
• Lawrence, T. E (1888-1935), col, UK army detatched service as liaison officer and guerrilla commander with Arab rebels against Ottoman Empire; Arab Revolt, WW II, 1916-1918, tying up of Ottoman troops and capture of Aqaba; Distinguished Service Order (and recommendation for Victoria Cross), 1917

M-Z

• Murphy, Audie, American, most decorated American soldier of World War II
• Prince, Tommy (1915 October 25 - 1977 November 25); sgt Canadian Army (joint force under US Army command) 1st Special Service Force; Operation Shingle, Anzio invasion, WW II, 1944 February 8, repaired, in disguise, his own reconnaisance phone line, behind German lines and in their sight; UK Military Medal (personally presented by King George VI), 1944, & US Silver Star; most decorated aboriginal soldier in WW II
• Rommel, Erwin (1891 November 15 - 1944 October 14); gen, then field marshal, German Wehrmacht Africa Corps; rebuilding of Axis forces in Libya, WW II, 1941-1942; granted suicide, despite charge of high treason (based partly on suspicion of his involvement in unsuccessful July 20 Plot assassination attack on his commander-in-chief), 1944
• Sharon, Ariel
• York, Alvin (1887-1964); cpl, U.S Army 82nd Infantry Division; World War I, Meuse River-Argonne Forest, 1918, led charge on active machine-gun nest that outnumbered them 19:1 and captured 132 enemy (by surrounding them?), Congressional Medal of Honor, 1919