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Awarded several medals for bravery, along with a Purple Heart, for a severe leg wound he’d received as he and fellow marines fought in the jungles of Iwo Jima, When our new geometry teacher entered the classroom, we high school seniors almost laughed out loud. Well over six feet tall, Mr. Gordon was skeleton skinny, his clothes hung on him like a suit on a scarecrow, he walked with a wobbly limp, and the meek expression on his thin, bony face, along with his subdued, kindly tone of voice, convinced us he was a wimp. How wrong we were. To...

This brave fellow takes a risk with a skunk in need and comes out smelling like a rose: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NoSSCmaHn4

Don’t tell them theirs is the Forgotten War. “I sure as hell haven’t forgotten it,” said Jean White, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel from Oceanside who fought in the Korean War 66 years ago and was at its most-storied battle, Chosin Reservoir, where outnumbered and surrounded U.S. troops fought their way out of a snowy death trap. White’s feet froze. Now he has to wrap them in something warm at night to sleep, a constant reminder of “where we were and what we did.” What they did is so revered it’s taught in the Marines’ officer candidates school, right alongside...

Backing down is not in Pamela Geller's lexicon. In May 2015, Geller hosted an art exhibit and drawing contest featuring images of the Muslim prophet Muhammad. Her aim was to stand up for free speech by showing that Muslims could not intimidate non-Muslim Americans into following Shariah blasphemy laws, which prohibit any depictions of Muhammad. Two gunmen showed up at the Garland, Texas, event and started shooting, injuring a security officer before being killed by police. Frightened into silence? Not Geller. A month later, she launched a new billboard-ad campaign featuring the winning drawing from the Muhammad art contest. The...

Hillary Clinton: bravest person in America? You betcha! But don't take my word for it. Here's John Podesta, Chair of Hillary for America, in an email sent out this morning: "If anyone else faced the constant barrage of insults and attacks that Hillary endures everyday, they would quickly and happily squirrel away in a cabin hidden somewhere in the Rockies. Not Hillary. Her default setting is resilience." Huh: that's funny. I can think of millions of Americans who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and other unpleasant locations who didn't run and hide despite facing a "barrage of attacks" that some say...

...Skarlatos, a specialist in the National Guard, looked up and saw the gunman. Skarlatos, who was returning from a deployment in Afghanistan, looked over at the powerfully built Stone, a martial arts enthusiast. “Let’s go, go!” he shouted.... There was no mistaking the man’s determination, Stone said. “He seemed like he was ready to fight to the end, and so were we,” he told reporters. With Skarlatos close behind, Stone grabbed the gunman’s neck, stunning him. But the gunman fought back furiously, slashing with his blade, slicing Stone in the neck and hand and nearly severing his thumb. Stone did...

Some forty years after Muslim Turks conquered Constantinople on May 29, 1453, and cut off the land routes to India and China, Columbus proposed a sea route. Columbus took four voyages: First, he discovered land, 1492-93 Second, he encountered a hurricane, malaria and cannibals, 1493-1496 Third, he faced rebellion and arrest, 1498-1500 Fourth, he was shipwrecked on Jamaica for a year, after surviving another hurricane and exploring Panama, 1502-1504.

In WWI Alvin York almost single handedly captured 132 German soldiers using nothing but a rifle and a pistol, while the German soldiers having among them 32 machine guns along with rifles and pistols and the advantage of being above him in the biggest of the forays.  And did I mention York was out in the open during the largest gun fight?  Ya, when the Germans attacked they pretty much mowed down almost the entire unit that York was with, including York’s commanding officer, which put him in charge.  The other soldiers left from the original group of 17, were...

Sergeant Manny E. Vega, after the midterm election Tuesday night, takes the news to President Obama on the steps of the White House. Armed with a megaphone, Vega exercises his First Amendment right and calls out Obama–and does so for about an hour, according to Mad World News. Vega, a Marine and now a member of the Patriot Militia, has spent nine years in the Marine Corps and has been deployed to Iraq three different times.

A Navy diver died at the bottom of a Maryland pond last year after refusing to leave his trapped fellow sailor to drown alone. Petty Officer 2nd Class Ryan Harris, 23, and Petty Officer 1st Class James Reyher, 28, were sent to dive in the Aberdeen Proving Ground on February 26 2013, but their lifeless bodies were pulled to the surface just 31 minutes after they started the dive. No one knew what had befallen the pair until an investigation, completed last year but only recently released, pieced together the final 31 minutes of the young men's lives.

Stunned by the execution-style killings of six of its members - four of them minors - members of a north Houston Mormon congregation are struggling to begin the process of healing. On Thursday, they sent helium-filled balloons heavenward in memory of Katie and Stephen Stay and their four slain children, ages 4 to 13. On Friday, they planned a trust fund to benefit the victims' relatives. This weekend, part of the regular Sunday service at the Mormon church in Spring will be devoted to assuaging the congregation's grief by putting the Wednesday night tragedy into perspective. "It won't be a...

The Grassbaugh family has given more than most to America. They keep giving. This is their story. On Veteran’s Day 2007, I was at Arlington National Cemetery representing The American Legion at a solemn ceremony held at the Memorial Amphitheater. After the ceremony I walked down to Section 60, which is the section of the cemetery where many of our fallen from The Global War on Terrorism are buried. While in Section 60 I saw a young Army officer in dress blue uniform, the usual uniform of those personnel with duty at Arlington National Cemetery. I asked the officer if...

A 30-year-old mother is lucky today after the quick-thinking of a stranger helped save her from a mugging. The mother of two who was dragged across a Texas shopping center parking lot this week, clinging to her purse while two suspects in a sedan tried to snatch it. That’s when the stranger, who was armed, stopped the would-be thieves and forced them to lie on the ground while they waited for the police to arrive. ( The stranger who helped the woman retrieve her purse, pointed a gun at the suspects while he made them lie on the ground, waiting...

Admiral Jeremiah Denton died yesterday at the age of 89. Admiral Denton served seven-and-a-half years as a prisoner of war in Hanoi during the Vietnam War. Denton’s name should be known by every American. In captivity he gave something beyond the last full measure of devotion, if that is possible. His is a story of almost unbelievable endurance, courage and patriotism. Here is a short course courtesy of the Denton Foundation that I saved a while back: In June 1965, he began a combat tour in Vietnam as prospective Commanding Officer of Attack Squadron Seventy-Five. On July 18, 1965, Denton...

Sometimes life hits you like a roundhouse kick, reminding you about what really matters. That happened to me this past week with the life, bravery and fighting spirit of 35-year-old Jen Bulik. I was just about to continue my series on Thomas Jefferson and public education, when I read Jen's story. (I'll pick up that series again in two weeks, after I highlight another amazing story of sacrifice and leadership.) Last December, Jen went to her doctor with a cough, and the young hairdresser was diagnosed with pneumonia. When the cough persisted, doctors ran more tests and discovered that Jen...

PESHAWAR: Pakistani surgeons removed a bullet on Wednesday from a 14-year-old girl shot by the Taliban for speaking out against the militants and promoting education for girls, doctors said. Malala Yousufzai was in critical condition after gunmen shot her in the head and neck on Tuesday as she left school. Two other girls were also wounded. Yousufzai began standing up to the Pakistani Taliban when she was just 11, when the government had effectively ceded control of the Swat Valley where she lives to the militants. Her courage made her a national hero and many Pakistanis were shocked by her...

In shipwrecks, children turn out to have the lowest survival rate, followed by women at 30% and men at around 40%, according to s Swedish study. In the Titanic shipwreck in contrast, more than 70% of female passengers survived, compared to less than 20% of men, with children in between.

There are lots of experts in this forum of one kind or another. Here we have James Holmes. Why wasn't he taken down? Would you have done it?

A Hillsborough, New Hampshire family lost everything in a fire, including the dog that saved their lives. “I’m not crying for the mess. I’m crying for the dogs,” said Paul Sousa, Sr. as he looked at the charred heap that used to be his trailer home. When fire tore through the home Thursday night, he and his son escaped with just minutes to spare thanks to their five year old beagle, Dupa.

A GURKHA who fought off 30 Taliban on his own even after his ammunition ran out yesterday received a top bravery medal from the Queen.