[M&P Shooter]

Delta snipers Randy Shughart & Gary Gordon knew it would be a death sentence to request permission to be set down at the crash site of a downed Black Hawk in Somalia but still asked for permission in the hopes of saving at least one fellow brother in arms. They reportedly killed 100 armed Somalis before becoming KIA. Because of their actions Black Hawk super 6 pilot Mike Durant survived and was later released back to U.S. Military personal

Tribute To Randy Shughart and Gary Gordon - YouTube

Tribute To Randy Shughart and Gary Gordon - YouTube

[Hines57]

Rommel & Hannibal.

[F350]

Chesty Puller

[Jay9928]

Dick Winters

Although he made rank quick, his men were first.

[Zombie Surgeon]

Patton and Vlad The Impaler.

[chewybaca67]

Navajo Code Talkers. They saved a helluva' lotta lives.

[IMG][/IMG]

[Detectorist]

SGT. York

Audie Murphy

[Haldor]

No question. The most gallant, courageous and effective military commander in the history of the United States would have to be Commander Ernest E. Evans of the destroyer Johnston.

In no engagement of its entire history has the United States Navy shown more gallantry, guts and gumption than in those two morning hours between 0730 and 0930 off Samar

— Samuel Eliot Morison, History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XII, Leyte

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_off_Samar

The Japanese Center Force now consisted of the battleships Yamato, Nagato, Kongō, and Haruna; heavy cruisers Chōkai, Haguro, Kumano, Suzuya, Chikuma, Tone; light cruisers Yahagi, and Noshiro; and 11 Kagerō- and Asashio-class destroyers. The battleships and cruisers were fully armored against 5 in (130 mm) projectiles. They together had dozens of large caliber guns, including the Yamato's 18.1 in (460 mm) guns, which could reach out to 25 mi (22 nmi; 40 km). Surface gunnery was controlled by optical sighting which fed computer-assisted fire control systems, though they were less sophisticated than the radar-controlled systems on U.S. destroyers.

Each of the three task units of the 7th Fleet's Task Group 77.4 had six small Casablanca-class or larger Sangamon-class escort carriers. The destroyers had five 5-inch guns, the destroyer escorts had two, and the carriers only a single 5-inch gun. Lacking any ships with any larger guns that could reach beyond 10 mi (8.7 nmi; 16 km), it appeared to be a hopeless mismatch against Japanese gunnery which emphasized long range and large guns.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Johnston_(DD-557)

For the first 20 minutes, Johnston could not return fire as the enemy cruisers and battleships' heavy guns outranged Johnston's 5 in (130 mm) guns. Not waiting for orders, Commander Evans broke formation and went on the offensive by ordering Johnston to speed directly toward the enemy—first a line of seven destroyers, next one light and three heavy cruisers, then the four battleships. To the east appeared three other cruisers and several destroyers.

As soon as range closed to within ten miles, Johnston fired on the heavy cruiser Kumano—the nearest ship—and scored several damaging hits. During her five-minute sprint into torpedo range, Johnston fired over 200 rounds at the enemy, then—under the direction of torpedo officer Lieutenant Jack K. Bechdel—made her torpedo attack. She got off all 10 torpedoes, then turned to retire behind a heavy smoke screen. When she came out of the smoke a minute later, Kumano could be seen burning furiously from a torpedo hit; her bow had been blown completely off, and she was forced to withdraw. Around this time, Johnston took three 14 in (360 mm) shell hits from Kongō, followed closely by three 6 in (150 mm) shells—from either a light cruiser or Yamato—which hit the bridge. The hits resulted in the loss of all power to the steering engine and all power to the three 5-inch guns in the aft part of the ship, and rendered the gyrocompass useless. A low-lying squall came up, and Johnston "ducked into it" for a few minutes of rapid repairs and salvage work. The bridge was abandoned and Commander Evans—who had lost two fingers on his left hand—went to the aft steering column to conn the ship.

At 07:50, Admiral Sprague ordered destroyers to make a torpedo attack: "small boys attack". Johnston, unable to keep position with her damaged engine, and with her torpedoes already expended, nonetheless moved to provide fire support for the other destroyers. As she emerged from a smoke screen, she nearly collided with fellow destroyer Heermann. At 08:20, Johnston sighted a Kongō-class battleship—only 7,000 yd (6,400 m) away—emerging through the smoke. The destroyer opened fire, scoring multiple hits on the superstructure of the much larger ship. The return fire from the battleship missed clearly.

Johnston soon observed Gambier Bay under fire from an enemy cruiser, and engaged the cruiser in an effort to draw her fire away from the carrier. Johnston scored four hits on the heavy cruiser, then broke off as the Japanese destroyer squadron was seen closing rapidly on the American escort carriers. Johnston engaged the lead ship until it quit, then the second until the remaining enemy units broke off to get out of effective gun range before launching torpedoes, all of which missed. Then, Johnston's luck ran out; she came under heavy fire from multiple enemy ships, and right when it was most needed, the damaged remaining engine quit, leaving her dead in the water.

Under attack from all sides

The enemy ships closed in for an easy kill, pouring fire into the crippled destroyer. Johnston took a hit which knocked out one forward gun and damaged another, and her bridge was rendered untenable by fires and explosions resulting from a hit in her 40 mm ready ammunition locker. Evans—who had shifted his command to Johnston's fantail—was yelling orders through an open hatch to men turning her rudder by hand. Crewmen from the destroyer escort Samuel B. Roberts spotted Evans at the fantail, asking "isn't that their captain", waving to them with what they did not realize was his only good hand.

At one of her batteries, a crewman kept calling "More shells! More shells!" Still the destroyer battled to keep the Japanese destroyers and cruisers from reaching the five surviving American carriers: "We were now in a position where all the gallantry and guts in the world couldn't save us, but we figured that help for the carrier must be on the way, and every minute's delay might count.... By 9:30 we were going dead in the water; even the Japanese couldn't miss us. They made a sort of running semicircle around our ship, shooting at us like a bunch of Indians attacking a prairie schooner. Our lone engine and fire room was knocked out; we lost all power, and even the indomitable skipper knew we were finished. At 9:45 he gave the saddest order a captain can give: 'Abandon Ship.'... At 10:10 Johnston rolled over and began to sink. A Japanese destroyer came up to 1,000 yards and pumped a final shot into her to make sure she went down. A survivor saw the Japanese captain salute her as she went down. That was the end of Johnston."

From Johnston's complement of 327 officers and men, only 141 were saved. Of the 186 men lost, about 50 were killed out-right by enemy action, 45 men later died on rafts from wounds; and 92 men—including Cmdr. Evans—got off Johnston before she sank, but were never heard from again.

Aftermath

Hoel and Samuel B. Roberts also sacrificed themselves to save the escort carriers and to protect the landings at Leyte. Two of four Japanese heavy cruisers were sunk by combined surface and air attacks, and Admiral Sprague was soon amazed by the sight of the retirement of Kurita's entire fleet. By this time, planes of "Taffy 2" and Taffy 1" and every available unit of the Fleet were headed to assist "Taffy 3". But Johnston and her little escort carrier task unit had stopped Admiral Kurita's powerful Center Force in the Battle off Samar, inflicting greater losses than they suffered.

In all, two U.S. destroyers, a destroyer escort, and an escort carrier were sunk by Japanese gunfire, and another U.S. escort carrier was hit and sunk by a kamikaze aircraft during the battle. Kurita's battleships were driven away from the engagement by torpedo attacks from American destroyers; they were unable to regroup in the chaos, while three cruisers were lost after attacks from U.S. destroyers and aircraft, with several other cruisers damaged. Due to the ferocity of the defense, Kurita was convinced that he was facing a far superior force and withdrew from the battle, ending the threat to the troop transports and supply ships.

Now that is a military figure to command respect. Better than any movie hero.

[The Fist Of Goodness]

Originally Posted by Haldor

No question. The most gallant, courageous and effective military commander in the history of the United States would have to be Commander Ernest E. Evans of the destroyer Johnston.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_off_Samar



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Johnston_(DD-557)



Now that is a military figure to command respect. Better than any movie hero.

Good call.

[The Fist Of Goodness]

I'll add a few of my own:

Master Sergeant Raul (Roy) Perez Benavidez

Joe Foss

Len Lomell

Stephen Decatur

Chuck Yeager

and
George Washington

[aplcr0331]

GySgt John Basilone.

[427]

Leland "Lou" Diamond

[mattallamerican]

the viscount of el alamien. any one know who that is. a hint the d day invasion was his plan

[Short Cut]

General Chuck Yeager

[JBnTX]

Saladin.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saladin

He originated most of our modern military tactics.

[nmstew]

Ethan Allen led the "Green Mountain Boys" to Ft. Ticonderoga, which was taken without a shot fired.

Wasn't until I was in college that I became aware that the fort was not taken through tactical genius, but rather smallpox infected blankets.

One could argue that that IS tactical genius but....

[hpracing007]

Sun Tzu, he wrote the art of war.

[whoflungdo]

Audie Murphy. He lived it then was the only one that could play him in the movie..

Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders

Already mentioned:
Chuck Yeager
The Code Talkers

ETA: I see Audie Murphy already had been named too

[Reissman]

Msgt Shiflet.

CAFB 1989. His wife used to bring him lunch every day and then he would get a nooner in his office.....

[Dragoon44]

The Spartans, they were genuine badasses that didn't bluster.

When Alexander the Greats Father, Phillip of Macedon once tried to intimidate the Spartans into doing his bidding sending them a threatening message stating that If he entered Sparta he would destroy every city kill every man and sell every woman and child into slavery.

The Spartans sent him back a one word reply,

"If"

[Haldor]

Originally Posted by JBnTX

Saladin.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saladin

He originated most of our modern military tactics.

Which tactics would those be?

Besides issues involving aviation and mechanized vehicles I am unaware of any new military tactics that postdate Roman times. Saladin commanded well and with honor, but he wasn't fantastically innovative.

[Gonetodarkside]

My uncle. Retired Lt. Colonel Air Cav helicopter pilot from vietnam.


Still a bad SOB.

[Haldor]

Originally Posted by mattallamerican

the viscount of el alamien. any one know who that is. a hint the d day invasion was his plan

Not Monty for Gods sake. He pretended he could read his enemies mind by using Ultra information. Good tactics to protect Ultra, but honestly he was slower at responding to opportunity than just about any allied commander.

[itisbruno]

This is an educational thread, thank you.

[RGbiker]

Marshall Georgy Zhukov.

WWII Soviet General who could disagree or raise his voice to Stalin........ and live to see another day.

On the Eastern front, Zhukov's troops slowly bled dry the German army.