Jeff Edwards

Jeff Edwards is one of the authors writing for WAR HISTORY ONLINE

Articles by Jeff Edwards:

Missing both Legs, This RAF Fighter Ace Took out 22 Germans Planes, Then Escaped Multiple POW Camps

Life with amputated legs can prove difficult for even the most mundane of tasks require extra effort.  But trying taking on the German Luftwaffe and…

VC: Despite 72 Individual Wounds, RAF Pilot John Cruickshank Sank A U-Boat with Depth Charges

For leaders in combat, there exists a strange paradox, where they are to order their men towards very possibly death while simultaneously being inexplicably concerned…

Killed While Leading From The Front, Australian Peter Badcoe was Awarded a Victoria Cross and an American Silver Star in Vietnam

When a warrior is set to receive the nation’s highest military honor, it is often for a singular event of conspicuous gallantry far beyond the…

Despite Frequent Disciplinary Problems, “Bunker Buster” Joe Hooper Was Awarded Medal of Honor Plus More In Vietnam

It is often the case that the men who give you the most trouble in garrison are exactly the sort of man that you want…

Medal of Honor, 3 Navy Crosses, and Highest Ship Kill Count for Submarine Commander in the Pacific Belong to Richard O’ Kane

The War in the Pacific was perhaps the last time that history has given us all-out open warfare between two mighty naval fleets on a…

The Soldier Who Earned a Medal of Honor Fighting with an Entrenching Tool and a Distinguished Service Cross Just a few Days Later

It has often been said that you can’t keep a good man down. In the case of Benjamin F. Wilson, the medical personnel trying to…

Refusing To Abandon The Wounded, Chaplain Emil Kapaun Remained Behind to Care for His Men and Died in a Korean POW Camp

He didn’t carry a weapon, he wasn’t there to fight, but that didn’t stop chaplain Emil Kapaun from earning the nation’s highest military honor for…

One of the Funniest Men Alive, Mel Brooks Spent WWII Clearing Land Mines

The history of war is full of heroes who displayed inexplicable gallantry and heroism under the most harrowing of circumstances.  And then, there are just…

When He Ran Out of Grenades He Started Throwing Empty Beer Bottles and Earned the Victoria Cross

War tends to favor those with initiative and ingenuity and for Victoria Cross recipient Bill Speakman, he would evidently possess both.  Some might think when…

Storming Through Enemy Trenches in Iraq, Marine Chontosh Went After The Enemy With Their Own Weapons

Once the bullets start flying and explosions ring out, one often has but seconds to interpret the battlefield and take decisive action if they are…

En Route to North Africa, FDR Was Almost Killed by a Torpedo Fired By A US Navy Destroyer

There is truly no way to quantify who might be the worst crew in US Naval History, but the men of the USS William D.…

Lt. Presley O’Bannon, the Marine Corps Mameluke Sword, and the Shores of Tripoli Before It Was a Hymn

One can say many things about the United States Marine Corps, but one can’t say that these mighty warriors of the modern era do not…