26Cher Ami
A pigeon named Cher Ami was awarded the Croix de Guerre for its service during World War 1. Cher Ami delivered the S.O.S. message of a lost, encircled battalion despite being shot through the breast, blinded in one eye, covered in blood, and with a leg hanging only by a tendon.
27. During the 2007 Glasgow Airport attack, an airport worker named John Smeaton kicked an attempted suicide bomber in the nuts. He was later awarded the Queen’s Gallantry Medal.
28. During World War 1, Dominic "Fats" McCarthy was awarded the Victoria Cross after he, virtually unaided, killed 22 Germans, captured 5 machine guns, 50 prisoners, and half a kilometer of the German front. When it was over even the prisoners he'd captured patted him on the back for what he'd done.
29. Former Senator Daniel Inouye had his arm blown off in combat while throwing a grenade. He yelled to stay back, snatched the live grenade out of his blown off-hand, then used it and a Thompson sub-machinegun to mow down the remaining Germans. He wasn't awarded the Medal of Honor until the year 2000.
30. World War 2 fighter pilot James Howard won the Medal of Honor for single-handedly taking on more than 30 German fighter planes all by himself to protect a group of American bomber planes.
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31Frederick Smith
Frederick Smith, the founder of FedEx served two tours of duty in Vietnam, observing procurement and delivery procedures, fine-tuning his dream for overnight delivery service. He was also awarded a Bronze Star, Silver Star, and two Purple Hearts.
32. In 1965, Milton Olive III sacrificed his own life to save a group of soldiers by smothering a live grenade. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor award, becoming the first African American of the Vietnam War to do so.
33. Ettore Boiardi, the Chef Boyardee of canned Ravioli fame was awarded both the Gold Star order of excellence from the US War Department and the Order of Lenin from Russia for supplying rations to allied troops during World War 2.
34. Two guide dogs, Salty and Roselle, were awarded the Dickin Medal for gallantry after leading their blind owners out of the World Trade Center during the 9/11 attacks. Roselle led a group of people including her blind owner down 78 flights of stairs before the North Tower collapsed. She only stopped to give kisses to a woman who was having a panic attack.
35. In France in September 1944, a technician named Robert D. Maxwell threw himself on a grenade to save his fellow soldiers. Though badly injured, he survived and was awarded the Medal of Honor.
