Mary Walker
Dr. Mary Walker is the only woman to receive the Medal of Honor. A field surgeon in the Union Army during the Civil War, Mary considered anyone who was injured to be her responsibility. She constantly went behind enemy lines to care for the wounded, even though the protections that we currently give medics didn’t exist at the time and the men she worked with were afraid that they would be captured. Their fears were for a good reason. In 1864, she was arrested for espionage by the Confederacy and held for more than four months, after she had helped a Confederate surgeon with an amputation. General Sherman himself pushed for her to receive the Medal of Honor in recognition of her bravery.
Vernon Baker
For the most part, we really don’t hear about what went on in Italy during World War Two. The fighting was rough there, due to the mountains in Northern Italy, which prevented the Allies from making much headway. However, Vernon Baker managed to distinguish himself in the last days of the war. While his company was under fire from an enemy machine gun nest, Baker managed to crawl to the position and single-handedly take out the soldiers inside. After that, he removed the spotters from an enemy observation post. With the help of one of his men, he then did the same to two more machine gun emplacements. Finally, in order to ensure that the wounded could be extracted, he intentionally drew enemy fire to himself. It’s no wonder that he received the Medal of Honor.
Randall Shughart & Gary Gordon
When we see that movies were “based on a true story,” we tend to assume that the exploits were exaggerated. However, “Black Hawk Down” had to tone back exactly how badass Shughart and Gordon were. They were supposed to be providing overwatch from a helicopter in a relatively safe position but instead radioed command to let them go in on foot to rescue the occupants of two helicopters that had been shot down. With just their sniper rifles and sidearms, they traveled almost a hundred yards under heavy fire and rescued the crew, holding off hundreds of attackers. While both were unfortunately killed in the struggle, they were posthumously awarded Medals of Honor.