Who was toughest sumbich American to ever live?

[Boilers]

And prove it. (or at least argue it)
Tough in a respectable way. Not mean and dirty.

 

[U.S. Patriot]

Bruce Lee

 

[Bushido Devil Dog]

Sergeant Major Allan Jay Kellogg

Anybody that absorbs a grenade blast to the chest and LIVES = BADASS!!!

 

[Bigum1969]

Though he's not famous (at least to most Americans), Gary Gordon was as tough as any person I've ever read about. His actions were depicted in the book and movie Blackhawk Down.

Gary Gordon

Rank and organization: Master Sergeant, U.S. Army. Place and date: 3 October 1993, Mogadishu, Somalia. Entered service at: ----- Born: Lincoln, Maine. Citation: Master Sergeant Gordon, United States Army, distinguished himself by actions above and beyond the call of duty on 3 October 1993, while serving as Sniper Team Leader, United States Army Special Operations Command with Task Force Ranger in Mogadishu, Somalia. Master Sergeant Gordon's sniper team provided precision fires from the lead helicopter during an assault and at two helicopter crash sites, while subjected to intense automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenade fires. When Master Sergeant Gordon learned that ground forces were not immediately available to secure the second crash site, he and another sniper unhesitatingly volunteered to be inserted to protect the four critically wounded personnel, despite being well aware of the growing number of enemy personnel closing in on the site. After his third request to be inserted, Master Sergeant Gordon received permission to perform his volunteer mission. When debris and enemy ground fires at the site caused them to abort the first attempt, Master Sergeant Gordon was inserted one hundred meters south of the crash site. Equipped with only his sniper rifle and a pistol, Master Sergeant Gordon and his fellow sniper, while under intense small arms fire from the enemy, fought their way through a dense maze of shanties and shacks to reach the critically injured crew members. Master Sergeant Gordon immediately pulled the pilot and the other crew members from the aircraft, establishing a perimeter which placed him and his fellow sniper in the most vulnerable position. Master Sergeant Gordon used his long range rifle and side arm to kill an undetermined number of attackers until he depleted his ammunition. Master Sergeant Gordon then went back to the wreckage, recovering some of the crew's weapons and ammunition. Despite the fact that he was critically low on ammunition, he provided some of it to the dazed pilot and then radioed for help. Master Sergeant Gordon continued to travel the perimeter, protecting the downed crew. After his team member was fatally wounded and his own rifle ammunition exhausted, Master Sergeant Gordon returned to the wreckage, recovering a rifle with the last five rounds of ammunition and gave it to the pilot with the words, "good luck." Then, armed only with his pistol, Master Sergeant Gordon continued to fight until he was fatally wounded. His actions saved the pilot's life. Master Sergeant Gordon's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest standards of military service and reflect great credit upon him, his unit and the United States Army.

 

[Biggdogg]

Chesty Puller, Dan Daly, or Smedley Butler...Butler and Daly BOTH won the CMH TWICE.

 

[AFA1CY]

General George S. Patton

 

[jeremy]

Chesty Puller, Dan Daly, or Smedley Butler...Butler and Daly BOTH won the CMH TWICE.

Uhhh...
That is pretty damn tough...
Generally the majority of people who win it the first time can't compete for it the second time...

 

[jeremy]

Andrew Jackson should be on this list...

 

[misconfig]

Chuck Norris.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2XUgE6g7XU[/ame]

'nuff said.

 

[Scutter01]

How to survive a cougar attack - Salon.com

 

[Benny]

Fedor Emelianenko...He once arm bared a grizzly bear because it looked at him wrong.

This was his toughest challenge to date, since he was too short to arm bar him or RNC he just had to KO him.

Alright, I don't know if he is the "toughest," but he is without a shadow of a doubt the badest man to ever walk the face of this earth.

 

[TopDog]

This is really hard to answer, there are so many Marines to choose from. But you have to have just one:

Chesty Puller

Chesty Puller - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lt. Gen. "Chesty" Puller

Chesty Puller Quotes. General Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller

Chesty Puller

U.S. Marine Corps - Lieutenant General Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller

 

[Boilers]

5 Navy Stars > 2 MOHs ? (Just asking)

 

[Biggdogg]

This is really hard to answer, there are so many Marines to choose from. But you have to have just one:

Chesty Puller

Chesty Puller - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lt. Gen. "Chesty" Puller

Chesty Puller Quotes. General Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller

Chesty Puller

U.S. Marine Corps - Lieutenant General Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller

I already called 'dibs' on Chesty, Dan Daly, and Smedley Butler...lol

 

[TopDog]

I already called 'dibs' on Chesty, Dan Daly, and Smedley Butler...lol

Ah - so you did. But he is in my signature line. Semper Fi!

 

[RachelMarie]

Chuck Norris......lol

 

[BE Mike]

I'm in the middle of a book now about the colonial and pre-colonial period in the United States. It is called "The Frontiersmen" by Allen W. Eckert. After having read just some of the exploits of Simon Kenton, I think I would have to say that he is the toughest man I have ever heard about. He wasn't as famous as Daniel Boone, but was tougher IMHO. His exploits with a rifle were well-documented. He was known to have been able to load a flintlock rifle while running. He was captured by the Indians and relentlessly tortured for months. In addition to fighting Indians, he was a soldier (scout and spy) in the Continental Army of the West. He more than once fled into the wilderness without any arms or supplies, once (during the winter) he was completely naked. He spent a lot of time in southern Indiana and northern Kentucky.

 

[JetGirl]

My gramps.
Even into his "frail" years, I watched him intervene barehanded in a fight between two grown men armed with a crow bar and an ax handle.
Within less than a minute, BOTH of those idiots were head first into a snow drift to "cool off" per gramps' *request*.
"Toughest sumbich"? My gramps.

 

[Haans]

Definitely Audie Murphy.



From Wikipedia:


Audie Murphy was credited with destroying six tanks in addition to killing over 240 German soldiers and wounding and capturing many others.[4] By the end of World War II he was a legend within the 3rd Infantry Division.[3] His principal U.S. decorations included the Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross, two Silver Stars, the Legion of Merit, two Bronze Stars with Valor device, and three Purple Hearts (all for genuine combat wounds). Murphy participated in campaigns in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France and Germany, as denoted by his European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with one silver battle star (denoting five campaigns), four bronze battle stars, plus a bronze arrowhead representing his two amphibious assault landings at Sicily and southern France. During the French Campaign, Murphy was awarded two Presidential Citations, one from the 3rd Inf, Division, and one from the 15th Inf. Regiment during the Holtzwihr action.

 

[Woodsman]

Here's another example from around the same time frame as Simon Kenton.

Lewis Wetzel, Dark Hero of the Ohio

Lewis Wetzel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Having mastered the technique of reloading a single shot flintlock rifle on a dead run, he was feared as a man whose weapon never seemed to be empty. Some of his Native American opponents came to call him "Deathwind".

Some of the family settled in Anderson (named for an Indian Chief, I believe), although the family name spelling was changed during the Civil War. Lewis had a brother named Martin, which is how I believe Martinsville came to be named.

If anyone has some supporting information or has some other input I would like to hear it.