Clark Gable
Most of those on this list who have multiple careers will serve in the military first, then use that as a springboard for their later careers. However, Clark Gable already had a full career when he decided to join the Army Air Force in 1942. The Army wanted him to just make movies that they could use for training and recruitment, but he decided that he needed to fly missions over Europe in B-17s in order to obtain the footage for the films. At forty-two years old, that’s pretty impressive.
Ryan Pitts
Alone in an isolated observation post in the mountains of Afghanistan, Pitts was no doubt shocked when he was attacked by more than two hundred Taliban fighters. Rather than surrendering or giving up when he was almost immediately injured by shrapnel, he started fighting back with nothing but his rifle and hand grenades against their heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs). Eventually, two more men arrived to assist him, after which Pitts crawled to the radio so that he could provide updates on the ongoing firefight to the main base.
Bennie Adkins
The Army isn’t sure how many men Adkins killed during the 86-hour ordeal that earned him his Medal of Honor. The estimates range from 135 to 175. He was working with South Vietnamese forces in 1966 when they were attacked by the enemy. In spite of taking eighteen wounds from enemy fire, Adkins continued to man the camp’s mortar until he’d fired every single round at the enemy. At that point, he used his rifle to hold off as many of the enemy as he could before carrying a wounded comrade into the jungle, where he and some other soldiers hid for forty-eight hours before they could be rescued by helicopter.
Bob Ross
He’s known for his calm and serene paintings and gentle nature, but Bob Ross spent twenty years as a sergeant in the US Air Force. He was responsible for training thousands of young men to be disciplined soldiers, which involved copious amounts of yelling, punishments, and rigorous training. In his own words, he was “a mean, tough person.”
Fortunately, he also spent time painting the wilderness around him, which ended up being a much more lucrative career than yelling at hapless cadets.