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15 Unknown American Military Heroes Who Deserve To Have Movies Made About Them

It’s no secret that Hollywood loves producing war movies, including films that portray the heroism of real-life soldiers or that were at least inspired by true events.

These include classics like American Sniper, Band of Brothers, Black Hawk Down, Flags of our Fathers, Hacksaw Ridge, Lone Survivor, Saving Private Ryan, Sergeant York, and We Were Soldiers, among many others.

If Hollywood wants to keep producing quality war films based on real-life heroes, they have no shortage of material to work with.

Here are the fifteen most awe-inspiring but relatively unknown American military heroes who seriously need to have Hollywood movies made about them as soon as possible:

1 – Roy Benavidez

Roy Benavidez 2
Image Credit: Army.mil

In 1968, Master Sergeant Roy Benavidez flew a helicopter to help a 12-man Special Forces patrol that was under attack by an NVA force of more than 1,000 men. After landing and armed with only a knife, he ran from the helicopter with his medical bag to provide help. Over the next six hours, Benavidez personally provided medical attention to and carried eight wounded men to safety while also engaging the enemy with an AK-47 he picked up from the ground.

In the process, he was stabbed, shot, bayonetted, or hit by shrapnel no less than 37 times. By the time he was lifted back to base, he was in such bad condition that he was believed to be dead and put into a body bag until it was recognized that he was still barely alive. Benavidez received the Medal of Honor for his actions and there’s no question that a Vietnam War movie made about his actions would be incredibly inspiring.

2 – Audie Murphy

Audie Murphy
Image Credit: History on the Net

Audie Murphy was the most decorated American soldier of World War II and received every combat award for valor that was offered by the Army. Murphy served in the North African and European theaters of the war and on multiple occasions he engaged dozens of German soldiers single handedly. It is believed that he personally killed over 240 enemy troops in combat. Murphy was also known for his dedication to his fellow soldiers and his refusal to be taken away from them even after he was wounded, which he was several times.

After the war Murphy became a movie star and starred or co-starred in more than 40 Hollywood productions; most of the movies he acted in were either war films or westerns. Tragically, he was killed in a plane crash at the young age of 45. A biopic or a miniseries based off of Murphy’s life is long overdue.

3 – Michael Fitzmaurice

Michael Fitzmaurice
Image Credit: Wikipedia

Michael Fitzmaurice was serving in Vietnam when his unit came under attack from North Vietnamese troops. When a hand grenade was thrown into his proximity, Maurice leapt over the grenade to shield his fellow soldiers from the blast. Fitzmaurice was wearing a flak vest, which helped to absorb much of the explosion and likely saved his life, but he was still seriously wounded and partially blinded.

Nonetheless, Fitzmaurice continued to fight back against the enemy. When a second grenade explosion damaged his rifle beyond use, Fitzmaurice killed a North Vietnamese soldier with his bare hands, took his rifle, and then continued to keep shooting back. Fitzmaurice was honorably discharged due to his wounds in 1972 and was awarded the Medal of Honor the following year. There’s no question a movie about Fitzmaurice’s actions that day would make for a great Vietnam War film.

4 – Tony Stein

Tony Stein
Image Credit: Congressional Medal of Honor Society

Tony Stein was an American soldier who served in the Battle of Iwo Jima. During the landings on the island, Stein personally stormed several pillboxes armed with a Browning M2 machine gun. He made eight trips back to the beach to resupply himself with more ammunition, and took a wounded American soldier with him each time.

Stein then took part in the Battle for Mt. Suribachi. He was wounded during the capture of the mountain and evacuated to a ship for medical treatment. When Stein heard that his unit was taking heavy casualties in the Battle for Hill 362A, he left the ship and returned to combat, only to be shot and killed by a sniper. He received the Medal of Honor posthumously. If another movie about Iwo Jima is ever made, revolving it around Stein would certainly be a good idea.

5 – Ruby Bradley

Ruby Bradley 3
Image Credit: Wikipedia

Ruby Bradley was a military nurse who became one of the most decorated women in American military history. Bradley was stationed on the Philippines when the Japanese invaded in December of 1941 after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The American forces on the island were routed and thousands were captured and sent into captivity; Bradley was among the captives.

Over the next several years, Bradley endured horrific conditions in the Japanese prisoner-of-war camps, but tirelessly worked to provide medical treatment to the other prisoners and people in the camp. She performed more than 230 surgeries, delivered babies, and smuggled in medical supplies and food, which she often gave to the other prisoners and children rather than eating herself.

Bradley was eventually rescued when American forces liberated the camp in early 1945, and she went on to serve providing medical treatment to wounded soldiers in the Korean War as well. She and her fellow nurses earned the nickname ‘Angels in Fatigues’ for their actions in the POW camp.

6 – Dan Crowley

Dan Crowley
Image Credit: Department of Defense

Dan Crowley was also stationed on the Philippines when the Japanese invaded in late 1941. By the spring of 1942, the American military leaders began surrendering when it was clear the islands would fall to the Japanese and to prevent further casualties. Crowley and several other soldiers swam from Bataan to the island of Corregidor where they continued to fight back against the Japanese and fended off numerous amphibious assaults until Corregidor fell as well.

Crowley then endured more than three years of horrific treatment as a prisoner of the Japanese where he was forced to provide ongoing slave labor. He narrowly avoided execution multiple times and was eventually liberated after the atomic bomb blasts on Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the war.

7 – Ty Able and Charles Bowen

Ty Able and Charles Bowen
Image Credit: Badass of the Week

During a helicopter night raid in Afghanistan in 2019, American Rangers encountered an enemy that was much stronger than they had anticipated and were taking heavy casualties. Two combat medics, Ty Able and Charles Bowen, began administering blood from their blood packs to wounded soldiers.

When they ran out of blood packs, Able and Bowen took blood from their fellow soldiers (who they had pre-screened before the engagement) to donate to the wounded casualties. Despite incoming machine gun and mortar fire, Able and Bowen remained very calm as they continued to transfuse blood between the unwounded soldiers and the casualties. Their actions saved the lives of at least six Rangers that night.

8 – Robert Howard

Robert Howard
Image Credit: D Magazine

Robert Howard was one of the most decorated American soldiers who served in the Vietnam War. He was wounded no less than 14 times over the course of 54 months of duty in Vietnam. On several occasions, Howard would go around providing medical support to fellow wounded soldiers or pulling them back to safety while under heavy enemy fire and often while wounded himself.

For instance, on one occasion, Howard was hit and unable to walk, but nonetheless crawled forward under heavy enemy fire to get to his wounded platoon leader and pull him back to safety. During another battle, the ammunition pouches Howard was wearing were struck and caused several magazines of bullets to explode. Severely wounded by the explosion, Howard nonetheless managed to drag other wounded soldiers back to safety.

9 – Thomas Baker

Thomas Baker
Image Credit: Facebook

Thomas Baker was an American soldier who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Saipan in 1944. During the battle, Baker went ahead of his unit awhile armed with a bazooka and single handedly destroyed a Japanese machine gun emplacement. A few days later, he also single handedly attacked two groups of Japanese soldiers and killed each of them.

After that, Baker was severely wounded in an attack by a larger Japanese force, but continued to fight back until he ran out of bullets. The Americans were forced to retreat, but Baker decided to stay behind because he knew that his fellow soldiers carrying him back to safety would only slow them down. Armed with a Colt M1911A1 pistol, he propped himself up against a tree as his fellow men retreated. When the Americans retook the position later, they found Baker’s dead body surrounded by no less than eight Japanese soldiers, the same number of bullets that he had left for the Colt.

10 – Matt Urban

Matt Urban
Image Credit: Wikipedia

Matt Urban was one of the most decorated U.S. soldiers of the Second World War. He served in six separate campaigns in the North African and European theaters of the war. Despite being wounded multiple times, he refused to be taken out of action and continued to lead combat patrols.

In France, Urban sustained a serious wound to his leg and was sent to a hospital in England. When he learned that his unit has France was taking heavy losses, he snuck out of the hospital and hitchhiked all the way back to France where he rejoined his unit. He was wounded again three more times but refused to be taken out of action each time. Urban was awarded the Medal of Honor after the war.

11 – John Clem

John Clem 3
Image Credit: American Battlefield Trust

John Clem was one of the youngest Union soldiers to fight in the Civil War. Clem was inspired to join the Union Army at the age of 9 and even change his middle name from ‘Joseph’ to ‘Lincoln’ in honor of the President. Clem was denied entry due to his young age but tagged along anyway and eventually was accepted into service as a drummer boy for the 22nd Michigan Infantry Regiment.

Two years later, Clem was allowed to enlist and formally took part in the fighting, using a shortened musket as his primary weapon. Clem was discharged from the military in 1864 but re-enlisted in 1871. He continued to serve in the military for the remainder of his career. He was promoted to the rank of Major General one year after his retirement due to a special order from Congress.

12 – William Hawkins

William Hawkins
Image Credit: Wikipedia

First Lieutenant William Hawkins was an American soldier who fought in several of the Pacific Island campaigns. During the Battle of Tarawa in 1943, Hawkins bravely led a platoon in a direct assault on the Japanese pill boxes and defensive installations on the island.

Despite being heavily wounded in the middle of the battle, he led another assault on a Japanese position that was defended by five machine guns. Hawkins took out the position and then proceed to take out three more enemy pillboxes before finally succumbing to his injuries. His heroic actions saved the lives of potentially hundreds of American soldiers and he posthumously received the Medal of Honor.

13 – Tibor Rubin

Tibor Rubin
Image Credit: Army.mil

Tibor Rubin was a Hungarian survivor of a Nazi concentration camp in Austria. He was so grateful to the U.S. Army for liberating him in 1945 that he joined the Army just to show his appreciation. Rubin went on to serve in the Korean War. His unit was defending a hilltop from an overwhelming Chinese assault and was forced to withdraw. To cover their scape, a wounded Rubin stayed where he was and single handedly held off the Chinese for more than 24 hours.

The Chinese then captured Rubin and offered to send him to Hungary after learning that was his home country, but Rubin refused and elected to go to a prisoner-of-war camp instead. Rubin spent the next two and a half years of his life in a POW camp, where he smuggled food for other prisoners. It is believed that he kept more than 40 American prisoners alive until they were eventually released.

14 – Henry Johnson

Henry Johnson
Image Credit: Wikipedia

Henry Johnson was an American soldier who took part in the American offensive in the Argonne Forest on the Western Front of World Wr I in 1918. During a lull in the fighting, a German force launched a raid on the position of Johnson’s unit and forced the Americans to retreat. Johnson, however, stayed and fought back against the Germans single handedly and killed several of them while also taking no less than 21 gunshot, knife, or shrapnel wounds.

As a result of his actions, the German advance was stopped and American reinforcements arrived later to secure the position. Johnson’s actions received widespread publicity and he became the first American soldier to receive the French Croix de Guerre award for courage on the battlefield. Tragically, Johnson died at the young age of 36 from inflammation of the heart muscle, but he was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously in 2015.

15 – Ernest Evans

Ernest Evans
Image Credit: Wikipedia

Ernest Evans was the commanding officer of the U.S.S. Johnston during World War II. In late October of 1944, the Johnston took part in an engagement with a much larger Japanese fleet near Samar. Evans commanded the Johnston to lay a smoke screen and then open fire on the Japanese vessels directly to draw their attention away from the other American ships.

Despite being mortally wounded early in the engagement, Evans carefully navigated the Johnston in between the other Japanese ships and scored several hits even while taking heavy fire. After three hours of battle, the Johnston’s engine and guns were knocked out and it was dead in the water before sinking, but the Japanese ships retreated and the lives of thousands of American sailors in the other nearby ships were saved. No one knows exactly how Evans died in the battle, but is known that he was not among those rescued from the Johnston.

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