38 Greatest Real Badasses You Never Knew | Part #2

During World War 2, Polish poet Stanislaw Jerzy Lec was imprisoned in a German concentration camp from which he made several attempts to escape. He received a death sentence for his second attempt to escape but managed to successfully escape in 1943 after killing his guard with a shovel when taken to dig his own grave. He escaped in the guard’s uniform.

On September 11, 2001, Officer John Perry of the NYPD went to headquarters to file his retirement paperwork. When he heard the explosion at the World Trade Center, he immediately responded and was later killed when one of the towers collapsed. He was the only off-duty officer to be killed on 9/11.

Major Dick Bong is USA’s highest air ace, having shot down at least 40 planes during World War 2. He actually collided with one plane, claiming a “probable” victory. In 1945, he became a Lockheed test pilot and died in a P-80 fighter jet crash on the same day that the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.

Fazal Din was a 24-year-old Indian allied sergeant during World War 2 who was fighting against the Japanese in Burma when his team was attacked by a team of six sword-wielding Japanese soldiers. One of them impaled his sword through Fazal’s chest and out through this back. When he withdrew his sword thinking that he died, Fazal Din, seized the sword from the Japanese officer and killed him with it. He then killed two more Japanese soldiers with it. He then stumbled back to Allied lines, dutifully filed an after-action report with his superior officer and then promptly collapsed and died.

In 1823, American fur trapper Hugh Glass was attacked by a grizzly bear during his exploration of the Upper Missouri River. After being thrown to the ground by the bear, he got up and repeatedly stabbed the bear with his knife until it died. He was left for dead 200 miles from the nearest settlement. He had a broken leg, cuts exposing his bare ribs, and festering wounds. He regained consciousness, set his leg, used maggots to eat his dead flesh, and crawled his way back to civilization over 6 weeks. He survived on roots, berries, and even chased wolves away from a bison carcass. When he returned home, he got his rifle back and continued his work as a trapper.

A 24-year-old New Zealander named James Grant was spearfishing with his friends in 2014 when he was attacked by what he believed was a sevengill shark. He fought off the shark by stabbing it multiple times with his knife. When he reached the shore, he saw bites up to 5 cm long. He stitched himself up using a first aid kit, before enjoying a pint of beer at a nearby pub with his friends.

Don Ritchie was an Australian who lived across the street from the most famous suicide spot in Australia. He officially rescued 160 people from suicide as of 2009 over a 45-year period, although his family claims the number is closer to 500. He would strike up a conversation with people contemplating suicide and invited them to his house for tea. He died in 2012 at the age of 85.

When Sean Connery was filming a love scene in the film ‘Another Time, Another Place’ (1958), his co-star's gangster boyfriend got jealous and pulled a gun on him. Connery grabbed the gun from his hand and twisted the guy's wrist until he ran off the set.

When a Rocky Mountain grizzly bear attacked hunting guide C. Dale Petersen, he killed it with nothing but his hands and his teeth. Petersen wedged his right hand in the bear's throat and used his teeth and jaws to pinch off the bear's jugular vein. When the bear passed out from the lack of blood flow to the brain, he beat the bear on the head with a stick.

In 2008, Florida wildlife officers shot a 375lb bear with a tranquilizer as it managed to wander into a residential area. The panicked bear ran towards the ocean and started drowning. That's when a man named Adam Warwick dived into the ocean to rescue it. Grabbing the bear by its neck, he brought it ashore. A couple of times the bear tried lunging at Adam to climb on top of him to stay afloat. Adam brought the bear to shore and only suffered minor cuts and scrapes.