Can anyone give me the name of any unsung hero?

Question

Unsung as in not as readily known for his/her accomplishments/achievements. And it must be someone of the radical tradition, like a Malcolm X of their time, but they do not have to be American.
And remember an hero that is not well known (i.e. probably not in the history books)

Answer 1

Lieutenant General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. (USAF-Ret-Deceased).



Commander of the Tuskegee Airmen during WW II. Because "radical" usually implies defiant; this, Meisha is not defiant. Just VERY important to History that no Public Education will take the time to care about.



Gerry

Answer 2

Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston (Civil War)

http://www.greatamericanhistory.net/hero.htm



Alfred Wegener

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Srinivasa Ramanujan

Eugene Shoemaker

http://www.yachtingnet.com/time/time100/scientist/other/unsung4.html



Stanislav Petrov

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/coldwar/shatter021099b.htm



Moshe Vaknin

http://www.israel21c.org/people/an-unsung-hero-rescuing-lives-at-the-gaza-israel-checkpoint

Answer 3

So much of the answer depends on time. In a sense, Winston Churchill was an "unsung hero" for his activities in supporting the RAF before the start of WW II. The importance of his work became apparent only after the war began and later as history recognized the crucial role that played in the Battle of Britain. Certainly, he would have been considered quite "radical" for his views at the time.



Perhaps more to your taste would be someone like King Shaka of the Zulu. He created an empire as a consequence of radical reforms of traditional Zulu practices, going so far as to defeat a "modern" British army in the field using spears and swords against rifles in the late 1700's and early 1800's (he died in 1828). See here: http://www.historynet.com/shaka-zulu-chieftain.htm



Finally, I suggest Joshua Chamberlain. Not well known but a hero of the Civil war in the US and awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Gettysburg which included motivating his volunteers to stay and fight in spite of their grievances- a very radical thing for him to do under the circumstances. He was also elected Governor of Maine and President of Bowdoin College. First and foremost a teacher, his career also led him to distinction in many other fields. He caused the Army of the Potomac to salute the Army of Northern Virginia at the surrender at Appomattox which helped pave the way for a peaceful end to the Civil War- a very radical notion. Look here for more: http://www.nps.gov/archive/gett/getttour/sidebar/chambln.htm

Answer 4

Sitting Bull (hero of the Battle of the Little Big Horn)

John Brown (well, I guess he is a sung hero, but I still admire him)

Allard K Lowenstein (among other things, masterminded McCarthy's challenge to LBJ)

Thomas Paine (pampleteer of American Revolution; hero of French Revolution)

David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair, and Joseph McNeil (Four students from North Carolina A&T who sat down at a "whites-only" Woolworth's lunch counter and asked to be served. Feb 1, 1960)

Answer 5

Chaplain Fr. Emil Kapuan



(died in a prison camp in Pyoktong, North Korea)



(April 20, 1916 – May 23, 1951) was a Roman Catholic priest and United States Army chaplain who died in the Korean War.



The Roman Catholic Church has declared him a Servant of God and he is a candidate for sainthood.



In 2000, U.S. Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) began a campaign to award the Medal of Honor to Kapaun.

Answer 6

IMHO - General Billy Mitchell ought to have been treated as a hero, not court-marshaled and humiliated. He proved that a single airplane could sink a battleship in the mid-1920's, and was punished for proving his opinion correct.



See this Website for further info: http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/cc/mitch.html

Answer 7

Pedobear