Douglas Bader
Born in London, UK on February 21st, 1910, Douglas Bader became involved in the British Royal Air Force from a young age. After reaching maturity, Bader received a scholarship to attend the Cranwell Air Force Academy. Two years later, he graduated from the program and was assigned to a fighter jet unit. In the small amount of time that Bader had been flying, he was considered to be exceptionally talented. Tragically at the end of 1931, a major accident ended in the loss of both of his legs. Despite his loss, Bader continued to fly (although he left the British Royal Air Force)("Douglas Bader").
After returning to civilian life, in 1939 Bader returned to the Royal Air Force ( at the start of World War II). Flying with prosthetics legs, Bader shot down over twenty German Fighter Planes. In context to the British Royal Air Force, Bader’s accomplishment was of the top five in significance. In August of 1941, Bader was intercepted by the axis countries, and was subsequently sent to a German prison. At the end of the war Bader was released and given knighthood in 1976 ("Douglas Bader"). |
Audie Murphy
Audie Murphy, born June 20, 1925 in Texas, faced severe family crisis as a child. As a result--in 1942-- shortly after the United States had declared war, Murphy attempted to enlist into the Marines and paratrooper unit. However, his height prevented his acceptance. Eventually Murphy applied and was accepted into the infantry division. From his first combat battle in the 15 Regiment, 3rd Division in the North African invasion of Sicily, Murphy showed his proficiency in military undertaking. Following several other assignments, he advanced swiftly in rank and received a wartime decoration. Notably after Operation Anvil-Dragoon, Murphy gained the most achievements of any of the other soldiers in his division ("Audie Murphy").
Murphy’s largest achievement however, occurred January 26, 1945 in the small town of Holtzwihr, France. On that day, Murphy and his soldiers met violent German attack. After ordering his unit to recede for defense purposes, he independently (with the aid of a semi-automatic weapon) prevented the German’s advancement. Despite suffering from a wound to his leg, he held his position for an appreciable amount of time and eliminated close to fifty German individuals. Murphy’s action was key to the rest of his unit being able to eradicate the German forces from Holtzwihr. In response, Murphy was given the most prestigious award in the infantry division and would go on to become the United States’ most awarded serviceman ("Audie Murphy"). |
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