Operators
The founders, the snipers and the Medal-of-Honor legends — the men and women who became the units. [39 operators]
39 operators
WWIIWilliam J. Donovan
Founded the OSS — father of the CIA
WWIIEvans Carlson
Carlson's Raiders — 'Gung-ho'
WWIIMerritt A. Edson
Held Edson's Ridge (Medal of Honor)
WWIIOrde Wingate
Created the Chindits deep-penetration force
WWIISimo Häyhä
'White Death' — 500+ kills
WWIIJack Churchill
Went to war with a sword & bagpipes
WWIIVirginia Hall
The most-wanted Allied spy in France
WWIIWilliam O. Darby
Raised Darby's Rangers
WWIINancy Wake
The Gestapo's 'White Mouse'
WWIIDavid Stirling
Founded the SAS
WWIIPaddy Mayne
Most decorated SAS soldier of the war
WWIIVasily Zaitsev
The sniper of Stalingrad
WWIIAnders Lassen
Only SAS Victoria Cross of WWII
Cold WarAaron Bank
Father of the Green Berets
Cold WarArthur D. Simons
Led the Sơn Tây prison raid
Cold WarLauri Törni
Finnish war hero turned Green Beret
Cold WarBilly Waugh
Still hunting targets in his 70s
Cold WarCharlie Beckwith
Founded Delta Force
Cold WarUlrich Wegener
Led the Mogadishu hostage rescue
Cold WarRoy Benavidez
Six hours in hell (Medal of Honor)
Cold WarRobert L. Howard
Most decorated US soldier of Vietnam
Cold WarRichard Marcinko
First commander of SEAL Team Six
Cold WarCarlos Hathcock
'White Feather' — the sniper legend
Cold WarYonatan Netanyahu
Led — and fell at — the Entebbe raid
Cold WarMike Vining
Plank-owner of Delta Force · EOD legend
ModernSławomir Petelicki
Founded Poland's GROM
ModernRandy Shughart
Mogadishu — Black Hawk Down (Medal of Honor)
ModernGary Gordon
Mogadishu — Black Hawk Down (Medal of Honor)
ModernAnatoly Lebed
Fought on with a prosthetic leg — Hero of Russia
ModernBritt K. Slabinski
Battle of Takur Ghar (Medal of Honor)
ModernJocko Willink
Led Task Unit Bruiser in Ramadi
ModernChris Kyle
'American Sniper' — 160 confirmed kills
ModernMarcus Luttrell
The 'Lone Survivor' of Red Wings
ModernMike Day
Shot 27 times — and kept fighting
ModernMichael P. Murphy
Operation Red Wings (Medal of Honor)
ModernPat Tillman
Left the NFL to become a Ranger
ModernEdward Byers
Afghan hostage rescue (Medal of Honor)
ModernFlorent Groberg
Tackled a suicide bomber (Medal of Honor)
ModernThomas P. Payne
ISIS hostage rescue (Medal of Honor)