President Donald Trump will posthumously award the Medal of Honor to Army Staff Sgt. Travis Atkins at the end of March for his "conspicuous gallantry" in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom by using his own body to protect others from a suicide bomber, the White House announced on Tuesday.
A United States Air Force Honor Guard service member, guards the casket of George H.W. Bush, the 41st President of the United Sates, at the U.S. Capitol, Washington D.C., December 4, 2018. (DoD photo/Noel Diaz)
Editor's Note: This article by Richard Sisk originally appeared onMilitary.com, a leading source of news for the military and veteran community.
A bill that would have the last Medal of Honor recipient from World War II lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda gained bipartisan backing Monday from the chairmen and ranking members of the Senate and House Veterans Affairs Committees.
Marines drag casualty from street fighting for control of southern bridge, head across street to an ambulance in Hue, Vietnam, Feb. 4, 1968. (Associated Press)
At the end of January in 1968, the Viet Cong launched an offensive that turned the tide of the Vietnam War.
The Tet Offensive began on January 30 as the North Vietnamese occupied the city of Hue. U.S. Marines spent nearly a month fighting a brutal urban battle to retake the city — which was 80% destroyed by the battle's end, according to H.D.S. Greenway, a photographer embedded with the Marines during the war.
An estimated 1,800 Americans lost their lives during the battle.
But in the midst of the chaos, five men who faced harrowing circumstances risked their lives to save those of their comrades — and earned the nation's highest award for courage in combat, the Medal of Honor.
Unsurprisingly, there's a long, proud tradition in the U.S. military of beating down adversaries with whatever you have on hand in those extreme moments when it's called for. Whether it's with an E-tool, a rifle butt, or just your mitts, there's nothing that screams dedication like bludgeoning the enemy to death.
Here are some of our favorites, with thanks to Military Times' Hall of Valor.
