During his service in the Vietnam War while serving as an advisor to the 11th Airborne Battalion, 2d Brigade, Airborne Division, Army of the Republic of Vietnam and its commander was killed, Major John J. Duffy refused to evacuate a command post that had been destroyed despite his own injuries. Duffy called in airstrikes, led evacuees out, and saved an allied soldier from falling out of a helicopter.

While serving as crew chief aboard a helicopter ambulance during rescue operations in Vietnam Specialist Five Dennis M. Fujii repeatedly exposed himself to hostile fire and put the safety of other military personnel over his own safe evacuation from an area under heavy artillery assault while administering first aid to fellow soldiers despite his own injuries and taking on the responsibility for the overall defense and offense of the encampment.  

Staff Sergeant Kaneshiro inserted himself into an enemy trench alone knowing that the fire from that location had to be stopped if anyone was to survive. After throwing grenades he jumped into the trench to sweep its length destroying one enemy group with rifle fire and two others with grenades. By the end of his sweep, the able-bodied survivors of the two American squads were again standing and preparing to move the dead and wounded and successfully withdraw from the village.

On March 5, 2021, the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced that Army Chaplain (Capt.) Emil J. Kapaun had been accounted for. A veteran of WWII, he continued his service in the Chaplain Corps during the Korean War. He died in a POW Camp in 1951. In September 2021 his remains will be interred at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Wichita, Kansas.

Staff Sergeant Miller became a one-man Army against an overwhelming enemy force. He was killed in action preserving the lives of 22 squad members. His Medal of Honor was presented to his parents in 2010.

Despite wounds, PFC Dias moved through unprotected areas four times, while under extreme fire, to destroy an enemy machine gun bunker that had pinned down two Marine platoons. He destroyed the bunker just as he was killed by a sniper. His actions contributed greatly to the survival of numerous men that day.

Second Lieutenant Frank Luke, Jr. was so legendary for his aerial take-downs of German observation balloons that he was given the nickname "Balloon Buster" in newspaper reports. He was killed in action in 1918 after a forced landing in a field in France.

On Feb. 23, 1945, then-Corporal Hershel "Woody" Williams, a Marine Demolition Operator, confronted a series of camouflaged, reinforced concrete pill boxes lining the outskirts of an airfield that U.S. Marines were trying to take on Iwo Jima. Over the course of four hours, armed with a flamethrower and guarded by four Marine riflemen, Williams repeatedly ran the width of the beach while under intense enemy fire to disarm and destroy seven pillboxes. His actions neutralized a considerable obstacle and created an access point for Marine Infantry units.  He was the last living World War II Medal of Honor Recipient.