For some reason, the memorials that always get to me are the smaller local ones.

You know - you're wondering through some little town and then there's some small plaque or statue in a park with a couple dozen names on it. "Dedicated to the brave citizens of ______ who gave their lives for their country in WWII." Depending on how long ago the war was, there's probably still people in that town who knew those soldiers.

Those are always moving really... particularly when you know something of the town/city - so if you see a memorial dedicated to the 31 men from one town who died during WW1, and the total population even until this day is still around 300 it carries a huge meaning in numbers and local history alone.

>>>> BUMP >>>>

It's an interesting thread... and one that should be kept going - so I'll ask another question:

Name one hero or idol from each service (land, sea, & air) of your nation, that you feel embodies the "warrior spirit" and honour. For bonus marks name another hero or idol from each service in a foreign military...

Song-wise, the Marines have the best song ("From the halls of Montezuma ...), with the Air Force #2 ("Off we go into the wild blue yonder ..."). Navy's "Anchors away" is pretty good too. Navy also earns credit for the theme from Victory at Sea.

Is the Army song heard much anymore ("Over hill, over dale, we will hit the dusty trail ...)?

It still is, only with different lyrics as the official Army song:

VERSE

March along, sing our song
With the Army of the free,
We’re the Army and proud of our name!
Count the brave, count the true
Who have fought to victory,
We’re the Army and proudly proclaim:

FIRST CHORUS

First to fight for the right
And to build the nation’s might,
And the Army goes rolling along.
Proud of all we have done,
Fighting till the battle’s won,
And the Army goes rolling along.

REFRAIN

Then it’s hi! hi! hey!
The Army’s on its way
Count off your cadence loud and strong
For where’er we go, you will always know
That the Army goes rolling along.

SECOND CHORUS

Valley Forge, Custer’s ranks
San Juan Hill and Patton’s tanks
And the Army went rolling along.
Minutemen from the start,
Always fighting from the heart,
And the Army keeps rolling along.

REFRAIN

Then it’s hi! hi! hey!
The Army’s on its way
Count off your cadence loud and strong
For where’er we go, you will always know
That the Army goes rolling along.

THIRD CHORUS

Men in rags, men who froze,
Still that Army met its foes,
And the Army went rolling along.
Faith in God, then we’re right
And we’ll fight for all our might
As the Army keeps rolling along.

FINAL REFRAIN

Then it’s hi! hi! hey!
The Army’s on its way
Count off your cadence loud and strong
(two, three!)
For where’er we go, you will always know
That the Army goes rolling along.
(Keep it rolling!)
And the Army goes rolling along!

The Problem With This Q is that there are so many Who are Revered in So Many Ways By Each Country on This Site!

Patton, Lee, Grant, Washington, Sherman Isenhower, Mc Carther,ETC!

How About Mountbatten, Boliver, Wellington, Rohmel, Boyington, ETAL!

In my opinion (and your mileage may vary):

U.S. Army: Gen. George S. Patton, Jr.
U.S. Navy: Adm. William Halsey
U.S. Air Force: Gen. Curtis LeMay

WWII German Army: Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel
WWII German Navy: Grossadmiral Erich Raeder
WWII German Air Force: Generalleutnant Adolf Galland

WWII Japanese Navy: Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto

WWII Soviet Army: Marshal Georgi Zhukov

WWII British Royal Air Force: all who participated in the Battle of Britain. "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few" as Churchill once said. To which 'the Few' irreverently added "...for so little!" (RAF pilots were paid very little, if they even got paid at all during that time.)

Canadian Air Force (WW1):
Air Marshal William Avery "Billy" Bishop – top ace of British Empire in WW1.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Bishop
Canadian Army (WW1):
General Sir Arthur Currie – first Canadian commander of the Canadian Corp in WW1; planned assault on Vimy Ridge; responsible for turning Canadian Corp into the “shock troops” of British Empire during WW1.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Currie
Canadian Navy (WW2):
Vice Admiral Harry DeWolf – captain of the HMCS Haida; went so far as to disobey orders and take his ship into enemy waters, at night, to rescue survivors from the Haida’s sister ship: HMCS Athabaskan.
http://cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/view...0/dewolf001220


German Navy (WW2):
Kapitänleutnant Werner Hartenstein - the commander of U-156
After torpedoing RMS Laconia he discovered ship was transporting POWs and commenced a rescue operation. Although German and Italian submarines were dispatched to the rescue, he felt that wasn’t enough and broadcast a general distress in the open, in English, requesting assistance from any ships in the area. With Red Cross flags draped across their gun-decks the three German U-Boars and Italian submarine attempted to tow the life-boats and survivors towards the African coast. The Kapitänleutnant even went so far as to signal a US B-24 anti-submarine patrol for help…unfortunately the B-24 was ordered to attack the surfaced submarines. This incident resulted in the Laconia Order, which more or less issued in unrestricted submarine warfare.
Links-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laconia_incident
http://wernerhartenstein.tripod.com/U156Laconia.htm
German Air Force (WW2):
Gruppenkommandeur Erich Hartmann – the top ace of all time (352 kills)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Hartmann
(admire Rudel’s military achievements, but his politics eliminated from the running)
German Army (WW2):
SS-Hauptsturmführer Michael Wittman – the top tank ace/commander of all time (138 tanks, 141 artillery/AT-guns)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Wittman


British Navy (Napoleonic):
Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald – the real-life inspiration for the fictional characters Horatio Hornblower and Jack Aubrey.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_...l_of_Dundonald
British Army (War of 1812):
Major-General Sir Isaac Brock – always believed in never ordering his men somewhere where he would not lead died leading second charge to retake Queenston Heights; during his burial even the US forces fired a 21 gun salute in his honour.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Brock
British Air Force (WW2):
[b]Sgt. Ray Holmes[b] – out of ammunition he used his Hurricane itself as a weapon to stop a German bomber heading for Buckingham Palace.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Holmes

One slight correction - Hartmann ended the war as a Major in the Luftwaffe; the title of Gruppenkommandeur signified he was a group commander - he was commander of the third Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader (fighter squadron) 52 (III/JG 52, using German notation).

(German Luftwaffe command positions: Rottenführer - flight leader; Staffelkapitän - squadron commander; Gruppenkommandeur - group commander; Geschwaderkommodore - wing commander)

After his release by the Soviets in 1955, he returned to the reorganized West German Luftwaffe, where he retired as an Oberst - colonel.

Agree with you on Rudel... he may have been a bad-ass tankbuster, but his political leanings tarnished his career and later life.

Wittmann was another bad-ass tank ace, but the unfortunate association of him being in the Waffen-SS unfairly paints him as a red-blooded Nazi.

I gave him the benifit of the doubt because of a) he seemed to truely dislike the politics; and b) he never lived long enough to tarnish his image with insane rantings like Rudel.

Agree with you on that; not every Waffen-SS man was a rabid Nazi; in fact by the later stages of the war, they were already enlisting anything that could walk and take up arms, even if they didn't quite meet with the Nazi ideal of ther blond Aryan superman.

Sorry I can't like Mountbatten, not after the clusterf*ck he turned Operation Jubilee into... he doesn't figure highly in any Canadian military histories.:(