10 War Heroes You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

One feature of global conflicts is that the generals who cause them get far more recognition than the people who fight them.

By Daniel Bonfiglio

Published 5 months ago in Wow

One feature of global conflicts is that the generals who lead them get far more recognition than the people who fight them.

But that changes for the next few minutes, while you check out these unsung war heroes. You may not know their names, but hopefully after this you will know their stories.

1
Charles Upham
One of New Zealand’s most decorated soldiers, Upman is the only man to win the Victoria Cross twice as a combat soldier. In both instances, he helped evacuate injured soldiers in the face of enemy fire, while injured himself. First in the Battle of Crete, and then in the First Battle of El Alamein, in 1941 and 1942 respectively.

2
James Armistead
James Armistead was both a slave, and one of the most important spies of the Revolutionary war. Permitted to fight by his master, Armistead posed as an escaped slave, and became employed as a spy for both the British, and the colonies. This let him move freely, and feed incorrect information back to the British. His intelligence helped end the war. After a fight, and a letter from Lafayette, he was freed for his effort.

3
Audie Murphy
Audie Murphy is considered the most decorated enlisted soldier in American history, but not many people know his name. At 19 years old, Murphy single handedly held off an entire company of German soldiers at the Colmar Pocket in France, while injured. After the war, he went on to be a successful actor. He also earned awards from Belgium, and France.
4
Matvey Kuzmin
Kuzmin was the oldest person ever awarded the Russian Hero of the Soviet Union. As an 83-year-old farmer, German soldiers asked for directions on his land. Unbeknownst to them, he led them right into a trap. He was then executed by a German officer, and posthumously awarded the honor.

5
Mary Edwards Walker
Mary Edwards Walker is the only woman with a Congressional Medal of Honor. Although a doctor, Walker was denied entry into the Union Army. So she went to the front lines of the Civil War in Virginia on her own, where she was needed, and was immediately put to work. She was captured by the Confederates, released, and returned to service.
6
Tommy Hitchcock Jr.
Formerly an American professional polo player, Hitchcock Jr. was denied participation in World War II as a fighter pilot. However, assigned to work in London, he was instrumental in helping design the P-51 Mustang; the plane that turned the tide in the war. He was killed in a crash while test flying an early version of the plane.
7
Andrée de Jongh
Andree was a young nurse in France who joined the resistance, and helped create a path through France and Belgium to safety for British pilots who crashed behind enemy lines.

8
Witold Pilecki
Pilecki joined the Polish Underground as a teenager during World War I. He went on to serve for Poland against Russia, and against the Germans in World War II. He allowed himself to be sent to Auschwitz in an attempt to expose what was really happening. While there, he formed an Auschwitz resistance movement, and escaped. He was captured, shot, and killed by occupying Russians in 1948.
9
Virginia Hall
Hall was an American spy, who worked for both the American and British intelligence agencies in France during World War II. She was instrumental in helping the French resistance be as effective as it was, and helped plan numerous successful operations.
10
Jan Karski
Jan Karski was a Polish fighter and diplomat who helped inform Allied forces about what was really going on in German occupied Poland. He repeatedly made trips to the Warsaw Ghetto to accurately report on the status of Polish Jews. He was posthumously awarded a Medal of Freedom.