Real Heroes #10

When a British Spitfire crashes over German-occupied Tunisia, its two aviators find themselves stranded in enemy territory with almost no German language skills—just a nursery rhyme and two words to their names. Armed with nothing but quick thinking and the kindness of French resistance fighters, they must evade Nazi patrols and navigate nine harrowing days through the desert to rejoin their own forces. A gripping true account of survival, ingenuity, and the quiet courage of those who risked everything to help the Allies.

Carl Akeley ventures into the heart of Africa leading a safari to hunt and collect wild animals for museum exhibits in Chicago and New York. His expedition tests him against the continent's most formidable beasts—a wounded leopard he must overcome bare-handed and a massive gorilla in treacherous mountain terrain—as he risks life and limb to secure specimens that will educate and awe museum visitors for generations to come.

Nine Against the Sea When the B-17 bomber *Spider* limps back from a raid over the Solomons with a dead engine, the nine-man crew finds themselves in a desperate fight for survival—their damaged plane forced down in the Pacific with dwindling fuel and failing instruments. Stranded on makeshift rafts with meager supplies, the men battle hunger, sharks, delirium, and the vast emptiness of the open sea in a test of courage and will. This is the true story of ordinary soldiers pushed to their absolute limits, and whether they have the grit to endure.

Women pilots of the Air Transport Auxiliary take on the dangerous mission of ferrying bombers across the ocean to Allied forces in England, proving their worth as skilled flyers in a male-dominated wartime effort. Captain Cochran and her fellow ATA Girls race against the clock to deliver their cargo, facing skepticism from those who doubt women can handle such a critical assignment. With bombers reaching their destination and the Allies gaining an edge, these courageous pilots demonstrate they're essential to the war effort.

Young Pierre Radisson arrives in New France in 1651 seeking fortune, and drawn to the wilderness, he becomes a trapper—until his capture by Iroquois warriors changes everything. After two years living among them, he escapes and returns with his brother-in-law Médart to build a trading post and push deeper into uncharted territory, discovering the legendary routes and lands that will reshape the continent. This is the story of how a trapper's ambition and courage opened the gateway to Hudson Bay and the riches of the western frontier.

Ben Kaufman has never backed down from a fight—whether defending neighborhood kids, excelling as an athlete, or enlisting when America entered the Great War in 1917. Through gas attacks, blindness, and court-martial, this born soldier rose to top sergeant of Company K, 308th Infantry, and earned the Congressional Medal of Honor for his courage at the Battle of the Argonne. Now, a quarter-century later, Ben stands ready once more to answer his country's call.

In 1777, Fort Stanwix comes under siege by British forces, and Colonel Peter Gansevoort's garrison fashions the first American flag from spare cloth to inspire their troops. When General Herkimer's relief force walks into a brutal ambush at nearby Oriskany, the Americans fight neighbor against neighbor in one of the Revolution's bloodiest engagements, while a clever deception helps drive back the enemy and secure the colonies' safety.

Co-pilot Lt. Robert Schley turns his twenty-third birthday into a bombing run over Rabaul in New Guinea, with bombardier Milt Kelkey and the rest of the crew transforming the mission into an unconventional celebration. As incendiary bombs light up the enemy docks like birthday candles, Schley and his team deliver a destructive present to the Japanese targets below. It's a wartime snapshot of American servicemen finding moments of camaraderie and purpose amid the chaos of the Pacific theater.

Lt. Colonel Evan F. Carlson leads his Raiders on a daring August 1942 raid against the Japanese-held Gilbert Islands, determined to cripple an enemy counter-attack threatening the newly won Solomons. Fighting behind enemy lines on Makin Island alongside Major Roosevelt, Carlson's men strike fast and hard—sabotaging equipment, disrupting communications, and holding their ground even when surrounded—in a forty-hour campaign that proves the value of speed, teamwork, and individual initiative in modern warfare.

When Major Wayne proposed an experimental camel corps for the U.S. Army's desert operations, Senator Jefferson Davis championed the idea in Congress, securing funding to import camels and dromedaries in 1851. The camels proved their worth on the southwestern frontier, hauling supplies faster than mule teams and thriving in harsh desert conditions—but when Davis later became President of the Confederacy, Northern resentment toward his brainchild sealed the corps' fate. This is the surprising true story of America's short-lived cavalry experiment, from breakthrough to auction block.

Dick Amerine, a former Kansas football star turned Marine lieutenant, finds himself stranded in enemy territory after bailing out over the Solomon Islands during a patrol flight. Trapped in Japanese-infested jungle miles from friendly lines, he must rely on his wits and nerve to survive seven days of danger and reach safety. This fast-paced wartime adventure shows how a Marine plays for keeps when the stakes are survival itself.