I could binge-watch old WWII newsreels for days. Not only were many of them masterpieces of cinematography and combat correspondence, but the idea of America’s only visual access to the war coming through these shorts is a far cry from the information-riddled world we live in now.
If there’s one thing you could say about Marine and soldier Jacklyn H. Lucas, it’s that he was a stubborn kid whose determination earned him the highest honor awarded in the military and two close calls with death. It’s been 72 years since he became the youngest Marine to receive the Medal of Honor at only 17, and Lucas is still remembered for being indestructible.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons, overlay by Matt Battaglia
In life, Adolf Hitler was many things: a failed painter, decorated soldier, Germany’s “last hope,” and eventual mass murderer of more than six million Jews. But, according to one author, he was also a “gibbering super junkie.”
Air Force Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager has had an epic career. During World War II, he flew 64 missions and decimated 13 enemy planes. Though he was shot down during a mission in France, he evaded capture using the French Underground. When he returned home after the war, he was among several pilots to test the experimental Bell X-1 rocket plane, and became the first human to break the sound barrier in October of 1947.
