At the start of a new millennium, Honor the Brave reminds us of sacrifices made, lives lost or forever changed, and the monumental bravery of the men and women who fought to make and keep America free. It tells the story of America’s heroes: the soldiers, sailors, and flyers who fought at places forever etched in our history—Lexington, Gettysburg, San Juan Hill,Belleau Wood, Normandy, Iwo Jima, the 38th Parallel, the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the deserts of Kuwait. Honor the Brave follows our nation’s military history and recounts the battlefront experience of America’s fighting men and women. From Washington’s citizen army to the soldiers in the Persian Gulf, we hear their stories in their own words and recollections.

The patriots who stood at Lexington Green in 1775, and those who stood and marched with Washington—including men like Paul Revere, Daniel Morgan, Horatio Gates, Benedict Arnold, and Nathaniel Green—established a nation. Defending the new nation in the War of 1812 and the war with Mexico required heroes like Andrew Jackson, Stephen Van Rensselaer, Oliver Perry, Sam Houston, and Jim Bowie. The terrible conflict that tore our nation apart was fought with courage and heroism by countless brave soldiers—George B. McClellan, Robert E. Lee, George C. Meade, Winfield Hancock, Joshua Chamberlain, George Pickett, Stonewall Jackson, and William Tecumseh Sherman.

In the 20th century, as conflicts became global, American soldiers and sailors left their homes for other lands, fighting in Havana Harbor, charging up San Juan Hill, and dying in the trenches of World War I’s ravaged Europe—among them George Dewey, Clara Barton, Joseph Wheeler, Theodore Roosevelt, John Ord, John J. Pershing, Charles Biddle, and Henry Johnson. In World War II, men and women in America’s armed forces waged battle against the forces of dictatorship and tyranny. American soldiers, sailors, and pilots fought around the world, from the beaches of Normandy to the beaches of Iwo Jima and the Philippines—Dwight D. Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, James Doolittle, Chester Nimitz, Benjamin O. Davis Sr., and Omar Bradley.

American blood was spilled once again in Korea and Vietnam. Despite great hardships on the front and at home, America’s fighting men and women fought with the same bravery and ideals as at Concord, Gettysburg, and Normandy—Oliver P. Smith, Matthew Ridgway, and William Westmoreland. Closing the century, General Schwartzkopf and his troops demonstrated once again the tradition of American battlefield ingenuity and bravery.

As America enters the 21st century prosperous and free, we remember our debt to those who bravely fought to establish and preserve the nation; we honor the brave.

The wars, the battles, and the heroes that have made and kept America free

"Stand your ground! Don’t fire unless fired upon! But if they want to have a war, let it begin here."—Captain John Parker to his men on Lexington Common, April 19, 1775

"Give it to them boys, let’s finish this business today."—General Andrew Jackson encouraging his men in defense of New Orleans

"Victory is certain, trust in God and fear not! Remember the Alamo."—General Sam Houston to his men about to charge Santa Anna’s army

"Nothing any of us had ever known could compare with the utter anguish, frustration, and constant inner battle of maintaining some semblance of sanity."—Officer on Iwo Jima in February 1945

Victor Brooks, professor of history at Villanova University, is the author of several books on military history

Liberty or Death.

Defending a Young Republic.

The Blue and the Gray.

Union Restored.

America Fights Abroad.

The Arsenal of Democracy.

The Great Crusade.

Korea to Kuwait.

America the Brave and the Free.

Index.