Another couple, more obscure stories that recently came to my attention that I think might make for good war films:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_Snell
Excerpt from the page in question:
Hannah Snell was born in Worcester, England on 23 April 1723. Locals claim that she played a soldier even as a child. In 1740, she moved to London and married James Summs on 6 January 1744.
In 1746, she gave birth to a daughter, Susannah, who died a year later. When her husband deserted her, she borrowed a male suit from her brother-in-law James Gray, assumed his name, and began to search for Summs. She later learned that her husband had been executed for murder. According to her account, she joined John Guise's regiment, the 6th Regiment of Foot, in the army of the Duke of Cumberland against Bonnie Prince Charlie, and deserted when her sergeant gave her 500 lashes. However, the chronology of her life makes it very unlikely that she ever served in Guise's regiment and this part of the story is likely to have been a fabrication.
Following the death of her daughter, she moved to Portsmouth and joined the Marines. She boarded the ship Swallow at Portsmouth on 23 October 1747. The ship sailed to Lisbon on 1 November. Her unit was about to invade Mauritius, but the attack was called off. Her unit then sailed to India.
In August 1748, her unit was sent to an expedition to capture the French colony of Pondicherry in India. Later, she also fought in the battle in Devicotta in June 1749. She was wounded eleven times to the legs and once to the groin. She either managed to treat her groin wound without revealing her sex or she may have used the services of a sympathetic Indian nurse.
In 1750, her unit returned to Britain and traveled from Portsmouth to London, where she revealed her sex to her shipmates on 2 June. She petitioned the Duke of Cumberland, the head of the army, for her pension. She also sold her story to London publisher Robert Walker who published her account, The Female Soldier, in two different editions. She also began to appear on stage in her uniform presenting military drills and singing songs. Three painters painted her portrait in her uniform and The Gentleman's Magazine reported her claims. She was honorably discharged and the Royal Hospital, Chelsea officially recognized Snell's military service in November and granted her a pension in 1750 (increased in 1785), a rare thing in those days.
Hannah retired to Wapping and began to keep a pub named The Female Warrior (or The Widow in Masquerade, accounts disagree) but it did not last long. By the mid-1750s, she was living in Newbury in Berkshire. In 1759, she married Richard Eyles there, with whom she had two children. In 1772, she married Richard Habgood of Welford, also in Berkshire, and the two moved to the Midlands. In 1785, she was living with her son George Spence Eyles, a clerk, on Church Street, Stoke Newington.
In 1791 her mental condition suddenly worsened. She was admitted to Bethlem Hospital on 20 August. She died on 8 February 1792.
And one that's in the news today:
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/rev ... ef-n550046
Joe Medicine Crow, the respected historian of Montana's Crow Tribe and the last surviving Plains Indian war chief, died Sunday at age 102, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock said.
Big Horn County coroner Terry Bullis confirmed Medicine Crow's death in a hospice facility in Billings, NBC station KULR reported. Bullis gave no further details.
IMAGE: Barack Obama and Joseph Medicine Crow
President Barack Obama presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Joseph Medicine Crow at the White House in August 2009. AP
Medicine Crow, who lived most of his life on the Crow Reservation near Lodge Grass, Montana, and famously wore his war paint beneath his World War II uniform, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2009.
"Today, Lisa and I join Montanans to pay respect and celebrate the rich life of Dr. Joe Medicine Crow," Bullock said in a statement Sunday afternoon. "Joe was a Crow War Chief, veteran, elder, historian, author, and educator. His legacy will forever serve as an inspiration for all Native Americans — and all Montanans."
Medicine Crow was the sole surviving Plains war chief, an honor that was bestowed for his heroism during World War II. To earn the honor, he had to complete four tasks, which the national newspaper Indian Country Today outlined in a 2013 profile marking Medicine Crow's 100th birthday:
He led successful war parties behind enemy lines. He stole German horses. He disarmed an enemy. And he engaged an enemy without killing him — a German soldier whom he overcame in hand-to-hand combat before sparing his life.
Historian Ken Burns told Medicine Crow's story in his 2007 documentary "The War."
After the war, Medicine Crow became the Crows' tribal historian, lecturing widely on the Battle of Little Bighorn, in which his grandfather was a scout for Gen. George Armstrong Custer.
"Today, Montana lost a treasure," said Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, who nominated Medicine Crow for the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
"Joe Medicine Crow was a soldier and a scholar, but above all was a fierce advocate for Native American families," Tester said in a statement. "When you spoke with Joe Medicine Crow, it was impossible not to be inspired. I know his legacy will motivate generations of Montanans to follow in his footsteps and live a life dedicated to serving other."
History and film often focus on the big battles and the political leaders. But of course, there's something to be said for the perspective of the individual soldier. These are just two interesting stories that got a bit more attention than most.
