Science Forums 2

[satsumajin]

This may seem surprising coming from a non-American, but one of my heroes is a soldier from the American Civil War: a scholar and college professor who volunteered for service in the Union army when he didn't have to, who played a decisive part in the defence of a key Union position at the battle of Gettysburg (for which many years later he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor) and sustained severe wounds in various actions during the rest of the war, who when deputed to received the surrender of Confederate troops after Appomattox commanded a display of military respect from the Union troops present towards their defeated opponents which contributed to the beginning of reconciliation, and who after the war played a prominent and respected part in public life (including serving as Governor of his native state of Maine).

I give you: Joshua L Chamberlain

satsumajin