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History's tough guys?


Spaceman Spiff

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though you guys may not agree, Napoleon is viewed by some as too glorified. There is a book called "Blundering to Glory" where the author admits his victories, but denies him military genius status, and does a good job to back his ideas up. A major premise for the author was that Napo had great generals under him, including one battle (forgot name), where only one corps fought off the major Russian/Prussian army while Napo's whole army just fought a little army of the Russians/Prussians.

Napo did a great job in his reports of making him the great victor for everything he won. Im not saying I necessarily believe the author, just thinking there is some validity to the claim.

Shivaji Bhonsale of India should also be on that list. He has alot of anecdotes for what he did to the Adil Shah sultanate in India 1600's or so.

Now, im surprised none of you guys have said John Riggins. That guy just sounded rock star from everything ive heard.

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And it is this: I have been told by every great officer I’ve ever asked about leadership -- from USMC Commandant Chuck Krulak, to Delta Force CO Col. Charlie Beckwith, to First SEAL Roy Boehm -- that there are two fundamental qualities to good leadership.

The first is that leadership is done by example. You lead from the front. The way Boehm puts it is "I can define leadership in the two words Follow Me."

Marine Captain Brian Chontosh leads by example. When his platoon was ambushed during the initial drive into Baghdad last year, Chontosh -- then a first lieutenant -- knew what to do. He employed violence of action and led his men in a counterambush. He charged the enemy position in his Humvee. He jumped into a trench filled with Iraqis armed with AKs, mortars, and RPGs. And he killed them. When he ran out of ammo, he grabbed AKs and an RPG from the enemy corpses and used them to good advantage. According to published reports, by the time the smoke cleared, Chontosh cleared 200 yards of entrenched Iraqis, killing almost two dozen.

Chontosh operated in the great Marine tradition, He followed in the footsteps of another distinguished Marine, Marine Major General Ray L. Smith. Smith became known as "E-Tool," because in Vietnam, so the story goes, he used an entrenching tool to clear a trench after his M-16 jammed. The tag, probably apocryphal, has it that Smith explained himself by saying, "E-Tools don’t jam."

I've known thousands of Marines, any one of which would've kicked the ever-loving $hit out of many 'tough guys' mentioned here. Tough is not just giving, its being able to take it. John McCain 'took it'. Here are a couple more:)

Btw, tough is different from 'macho' and definitely different from 'brutal'.

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Originally posted by PapaDRoc

I have got a bad ass for you all....

General William Sherman in the Civil War. He burned down all of Atlanta and everything around it.

Already mentioned................yankee

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Originally posted by PapaDRoc

I have got a bad ass for you all....

General William Sherman in the Civil War. He burned down all of Atlanta and everything around it.

He is still hated by people in the South to this day.

I disqualified him because he was with 65,000 troops and mainly avoided conflict with the army. He contented hisself with laying the area he passed thru to waste.....Brutal..Yes ....Tough ...feh

......And yes I do carry a grudge.

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For me, two men come to mind.

The first person is the late Marine Corp sniper Carlos Hath****.

Gifted as he was at shooting his rifle, and carrying out his duty as a sniper, he valued his fellow Marines safety and lives more.

I recommend reading up on his life. Incredible stuff.

Another person is General Chuck Yeager.

He's another one that needs a wheelbarrow when he walks.

The thing that makes them both special in my opinion is their humility and dedication to duty.

Most of us could learn a lot from men like these.

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