Word Celebrity Blog

AMERICAN WAR HEROES


I am planing a series of posts pertaining to American War Heroes.

I realize that determining who is or might be a hero is very subjective and personal.

Before I begin, I want to make it perfectly clear that I am not a war advocate. I think that wars are barbaric and should only be used in the cases of being attacked.

How do we decide who is a hero?  Is it a matter of degree of heroism?  Is one hero greater than another?  Do the number of medals and decorations determine the amount of heroism?

As I said, it it is a personal thing. When I think of "War Heroes", three members of my family immediately come to mind. (1) My great-uncle Dan McDonnell who lost his left leg at the "Battle of Antietam". (2) My cousin Calvin Husband (a clerk for Gen. George Patton) who picked up a rifle and was killed at the "Battle of the Bulge" (3) My cousin "Bill" Smerk who couldn't join the the services during WW2 because he was too young. He joined the merchant marines and had 5 different ships sunk out from under him. When the Korean War started, he joined the "Airborne" and was shot up while dropping from an airplane over Northern Korea. He died 4 years later from his wounds.

I will be posting about some that you know fairly well and those you probably never heard of.   ALL of them are real American War Heroes.

Personally, I believe that ANY man or woman who faces combat, or is wounded, or sacrifices their life for their country is a REAL HERO.

In order to take the NUMBER of medals out of the equation, I will make this post of two lists of 50 persons per list. The people on the lists are ranked by the number of medals and citations and the type of of medals. Each type is given a different grade point. These lists were compiled by military and former military persons.

My next post will be about Ernie Pyle, and followed by others that he wrote about. These will be followed by other American War Heroes.


Top 50 Most Highly Decorated U.S. Military Personnel of All Time

Last Updated:  26 December 2009

Veteran Tributes at info@veterantributes.org

There are two lists: the first list requires that the person has to have been awarded the Medal of Honor; the second list simply totals up the person's points, no matter what their highest decoration is.

Top 50 by points, With Medal of Honor:
    
 1. GA Douglas MacArthur, USA    
 2. Col Edward V. Rickenbacker, USAAS
 3. VADM John D. Bulkeley, USN    
 4. CDR Samuel D. Dealey, USN    
 5. SgtMaj Daniel J. Daly, USMC    
 6. Col Robert L. Howard, USA    
 7. RADM Eugene B. Fluckey, USN    
 8. RADM Richard H. O'Kane, USN    
 9. Maj Thomas B. McGuire, Jr., USAAF    
10. VADM James B. Stockdale, USN    
11. Maj Gen Smedley D. Butler, USMC    
12. MG Patrick H. Brady, USA    
13. VADM Joel T. Boone, USN    
14. Maj Richard I. Bong, USAAF    
15. Gen Raymond G. Davis, USMC    
16. Col George E. Day, USAF    
17. Col George A. Davis, USAF    
18. PO1 James E. Williams, USN    
19. Col Leo K. Thorsness, USAF    
20. VADM Lawson P. Ramage, USN    
21. 1stLt Henry L. Hulbert, USMC    
22. LTC Raymond Harvey, USA    
23. MajGen James L. Day, USMC    
24. LCDR John C. McCloy, USN    
25. Col Gordon Johnston, USA    
26. Capt Joe R. Hooper, USA    
27. Maj Gen Merritt A. Edson, USMC    
28. BGen Herman H. Hanneken, USMC    
29. Maj Audie L. Murphy, USA    
30. Col Lloyd L. Burke, USA    
31. Col Lewis L. Millett, USA    
32. CAPT David McCampbell, USN    
33. Col James E. Swett, USMC    
34. CPL John H. Pruitt, USMC    
35. Maj Louis Cukela, USMC    
36. RADM Richard E. Byrd, USN    
37. LTC Matt L. Urban, USA    
38. MG William F. Dean, USA    
39. Gen James H. Doolittle, USAF    
40. Col Neel E. Kearby, USAAF    
41. MajGen Wendell C. Neville, USMC    
42. ADM Jonas H. Ingram, USN    
43. 2d Lt Frank Luke, Jr., USAAS    
44. Sgt Matej Kocak, USMC    
45. Gen Leon W. Johnson, USAF    
46. MG William J. Donovan, USA    
47. CDR Howard W. Gilmore, USN    
48. LtCol Kenneth A. Walsh, USMC    
49. MG Frank D. Baldwin, USA    
50. CM John L.M. Cooper, USN    


Top 50 by points, regardless of highest decoration:

 1. GA Douglas MacArthur, USA
 2. Col David H. Hackworth, USA
 3. Col Edward V. Rickenbacker, USAAS
 4. BG John T. Corley, USA
 5. VADM John D. Bulkeley, USN
 6. CDR Samuel D. Dealey, USN
 7. SgtMaj Daniel J. Daly, USMC
 8. Col James H. Kasler, USAF
 9. LtGen Lewis B. Puller, USMC
10. Gen John C. Meyer, USAF
11. Col David C. Schilling, USAF
12. Col Robert L. Howard, USA
13. Gen James A. Van Fleet, USA
14. RADM Eugene B. Fluckey, USN
15. RADM Richard H. O'Kane, USN
16. Gen William E. DePuy, USA
17. Col Francis S. Gabreski, USAF
18. Maj Thomas B. McGuire, Jr., USAAF
19. VADM James B. Stockdale, USN
20. Col James C. Harding, USAF
21. MajGen Smedley D. Butler, USMC
22. MG Patrick H. Brady, USA
23. VADM Joel T. Boone, USN
24. Maj Gen Frank O. Hunter, USAAF
25. Gen John R. Deane, Jr., USA
26. Col Ralph S. Parr, Jr., USAF
27. RADM Roy M. Davenport, USN
28. Maj Richard I. Bong, USAAF
29. RADM James B. Linder, USN
30. Gen Barry R. McCaffrey, USA
31. Maj Gen Robert M. White, USAF
32. Gen Raymond G. Davis, USMC
33. Col Theodore W. Guy, USAF
34. Gen Creighton W. Abrams, Jr., USA
35. Brig Gen R. Stephen Ritchie, USAF
36. Col George E. Day, USAF
37. Col George A. Davis, USAF
38. Col William T. Whisner, USAF
39. Lt Gen John P. Flynn, USAF
40. Brig Gen Robin Olds, USAF
41. Gen H. Norman Schwarzkopf, USA
42. PO1 James E. Williams, USN
43. ADM Bernard A. Clarey, USN
44. Col Leo K. Thorsness, USAF
45. Col Donald J.M. Blakeslee, USAF
46. VADM Lawson P. Ramage, USN
47. Maj Gen Frederick C. Blesse, USAF
48. 1stLt Henry L. Hulbert, USMC
49. Gen Lemuel C. Sheperd, Jr., USMC
50. Lt Gen Jay T. Robbins, USAF