Uncommon Valor from Dwight Jon Zimmerman and John D. Gresham presents a fascinating look at six of our bravest soldiers and the highest military decoration awarded in this country. Since the Vietnam War ended in 1973, the Medal of Honor, our nation's highest award for valor, has been presented to only eight men for their actions "above and beyond the call of duty." Six of the eight were young men who had fought in the current war in Iraq, Afghanistan, or both. All of these medals were awarded posthumously, as all had made the choice to give their lives so that their comrades might live. Uncommon Valor answers the searing question of who these six young soldiers were, and dramatically details how they found themselves in life-or-death situations, and why they responded as they did. For the first time, this book also provides a comprehensive history of the Medal of Honor itself—one marred by controversies, scandals, and theft. Using an extraordinary range of sources, including interviews with family members and friends, teammates and superiors in the military, personal letters, blogs posted within hours of events, personal and official videos and newly declassified documents, Uncommon Valor is a compelling and important work that recounts incredible acts of heroism and lays bare the ultimate sacrifice of our bravest soldiers.

Describes weapons, equipment, and uniforms of World War II Allied Forces.

Excerpt from The Medals of Our Fighting Men The custom of awarding medals for military service is supposed to have originated with the Chinese many centuries before the Christian era, but the decorations which our fighting men are given to-day probably owe their origin to the badges which the armies of England wore after the decline of armour, and before the intro duction of distinctive uniforms. The badges themselves, it hardly need be said, grew out of the coats of arms which emblazoned the liveries of the retainers. There are a number of instances on record of com: manders rewarding men upon the battlefield by giving them regimental badges struck in some valuable metal, and perhaps studded with precious stones. Heroes, who were decorated in this way, removed the common or ordinary metal sign from their coats or hats and wore, instead, the much-prized emblem. In this simple performance we have the germ of medal-granting and wearing as it affects the Navy and Army of to-day. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.