Military Willing To Die For Their Country

One of the most famous battles was fought at Thermopylae. For a battle fought over 2,200 years ago it is amazing how it has been immortalized and many of us today know about it. The king’s personal guard with the Spartan King Leonidas and about 1,200 Greeks from other areas went up against a force estimated to be a couple of hundred thousand Persians and their allies to try and hold them off until the Greeks could celebrate their holidays and build their army and navy. It was truly a suicide mission. While they may not have won, they managed to delay the entire Persian Army for days killing thousands, and some say tens of thousands of them. This will never be forgotten.

Life seemed to be much cheaper in World War One than it was even in the later war. Men would be ordered to charge out of their trenches across a kill zone to the enemy trench. They knew many of them would not make it and yet most performed their duty. An American unit was ordered to attack Gesnes, France. There was a problem, it had been very heavily fortified by the Germans. The Americans knew it was a suicide mission. They bravely went there to carry out their mission. To get there they would have to cross a kill zone a mile wide. The irony was the order to attack had been finally countermanded, but this was not known to the attacking Americans. The Americans took the town but at an incredible cost in lives and seven of the men were given the Medal of Honor.

The Hunley was built in 1863 and was a very early submarine. It was built by the South. While it had the rough shape of what we think of as a submarine, it had to be propelled by men turning a crank. It also had no extra oxygen so it had to get to its target fast. The way it was tested was it would be sent out on a test run. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a suicide mission. The first time it went out the crew died, and the Hunley sunk,  but was salvaged. The second time it sunk and the crew drowned. Volunteers still came forth for the third mission and they sink a Union ship, but the explosion also sinks the Hunley killing that crew.

One of the biggest suicide missions was a Japanese mission during World War II which became infamous as the Kamikaze. Many hundreds of men volunteered to fly one way missions. We know how terrible was the damage and death they inflicted on the United States Navy and others, but one has to admit it took a special kind of courage for men to give up their lives so readily. It has been estimated 3,800 Kamikaze pilots gave up their lives to try and save their country.

The Roman Army was one of the most feared armies of its time. Forces of about 50,000 Romans and their allies decided to attack a force of Parthians numbering about 21,000. The Romans were led by the famous general Licinius Crassus who had defeated the slave army of Spartacus. Surely, the Parthians must have thought they might all be killed, but they decided to fight and die if necessary. The Battle of Carrhae took place in 53 B.C. The Romans must have thought this would be a relatively easy battle since they outnumbered the Parthians by two to one. The Parthians did have something which seemed to surprise the Romans, it was 1,000 very heavy cavalry. 9,000 of their force were also calvary with bows. Unfortunately for the Romans the Parthian cavalry turned the battle to a route for the Parthians. General Crassus was killed and after the battle the Romans adapted some of the cavalry tactics the enemy had used in future battles.

The siege of Malta took place in 1565 A.D. Rather than surrender a small force of 2,500 knights and 6,000 civilians decided to fight for Malta against a force of 45,000 Ottomans. It seemed like a foolhardy decision and yet the knights and civilians must have felt it would be better to die than be under Ottoman rule. It is true Malta had great fortifications, but the Ottomans were famous for defeating fortifications. Every time the Ottoman Turks captured a fort, they would lose many men. As the fight went on, it is estimated the Ottomans lost up to 30,000 men. Some were lost because of disease. The knights and civilians lost about one-third of their men but won the war.

The Battle of  Morgarten took place in 1315. The Swiss had been attacked by the Austrian army. The Swiss only had 1,500 soldiers but the Austrian force was over 8,000 men. The Swiss who seemed to be facing certain death, decided to fight and give up their lives if necessary. As the battle progressed the Swiss surprised the Austrians by using their knowledge of the land to their advantage. They actually managed to trap the Austrians between Lake Ageri on one side and steep slopes on the other. The road itself had been blocked by the Swiss so nothing could get by. This trapped the Austrians on a narrow path and they were slaughtered. Trapping a superior force in a narrow area where only a couple of soldiers can get through at a time is a huge advantage and was the same one used at Thermopylae by the Spartans.

The French decided to invade Mexico. They succeeded with the invasion. They decided to take over the city of Puebla in 1862. They knew their army far outnumbered the Mexicans, and they had easily defeated the Mexicans at Veracruz. The city of Puebla had 2,000 defenders and the French had 8,000 soldiers. The people in the city could have surrendered, because it seemed like a foolhardy task which would end in death for them, but they decided to fight anyway. The French were far better equipped, but the Mexicans were causing five times the casualties  on the French Army as the French were causing to them. The Mexicans won the battle and most survived. Eventually the French would capture the city at a later date.