I have been reading some great stories about some amazing individuals, and i thought it would be a good idea to start a thread about people who
performed amazing feats, yet may, or may not have been forgotten.
I will post about a couple of individuals, but i would like this to be a community thing, whereby we all post at least 1 story about a person who
performed amazing things.
I'll start.
Lieutenant-Colonel Barry Petersen
Barry Petersen was an Australian Army Officer who knew how to operate with the indigenous mountain tribes of Asia. This caught the attention of the
higher ups in the Australian Army, and indeed, the CIA. As such, before the start of the Vietnam War, in 1963, the CIA had sent him deep into the
jungles of Vietnam in order to train the montagnard tribes.
Petersen was tasked with fully training, and deploying his montagnard soldiers against the viet cong, in a clandestine attempt to disrupt and destroy
them before, and during the early years of the war.
Over time, Barry Petersen had come to be worshiped as a demi-god by the montagnard forces. He had formed a highly successful unit of 1200 montagnard
fighters who were feared throughout the highlands of Vietnam. The unit became known as the 'Tiger Men', due to their fierce capability, the camouflage
of their clothes, as well as their beret badge, which depicted a tiger's head.
Petersen and his Tiger Men were so successful, that a US ambassador visited Petersen himself, and exclaimed fascination at the fact that US soldiers
were no where near as successful at training montagnard forces.
The CIA saw Petersen as a threat following the ambassador's visit. They saw him as a powerful individual of whom they couldn't really control. A
demi-god who had 'gone native'. An Australian who led 1200 soldiers of whom would act at his command. As such, forces within the CIA wanted him
gone...that is, dead.
The CIA approached Petersen in an attempt to persuade him into training the Tiger Men as an assassin force, under the early stages of the Phoenix
Program. Petersen denied the CIA's proposition, and would not compromise the Tiger Men to suit the CIA's goals. This infuriated the CIA to the point
that Petersen became a target. He learnt of his potential assassination, and was forced to leave the highlands of Vietnam as a result. He made it out
of Vietnam alive, before the CIA had the chance to kill him. His montagnard force was not so lucky.
The second individual of whom i will post about is:
Lieutenant-Colonel John Churchill
John Churchill was a British Army officer whose story is not well known.
Churchill was a British Commando officer who fought in WW2, using only a sword and bow and arrows. He would charge into battle wearing a kilt and
playing the bagpipes.
One of his greatest exploits included the capture of 42 German Nazis and a mortar post. He took both using only his sword.
He also played the bagpipes in battle, with one case resulting in him being knocked out by enemy troops, and being imprisoned as a result. he
successfully escaped every German prison, only to be recaptured again. He eventually made it out, whereby he met up with US troops later on during the
war.
Once Germany fell, he went to fight the Japanese, but was stopped in Burma, when he found out that the Nuclear Bombs had already been dropped, thus
ending the war.