These heroes made their mark in history for their fearless humanitarian efforts.

The Resistance Leader

"Witold pilecki - A polish resistance fighter who voluntarily went to auschwitz to get intel on what was happening and then proceeded to escape, survived the war and was later executed by the USSR."

– treatyofparis1

The Espionage Expert

"Nancy Wake. So skillled as she was, she was nicknamed 'The White Mouse' by the Gestapo due to her elusiveness in avoiding capture. Highly talented in espionage, she worked as a spy for the French Resistance and the Special Operations Executive to take down the Nazis. One of the more highly decorated women from WW2, yet not well known."

– LittlestSlipper55

"God's Rambo"

"Helge Meyer, also known as 'God's Rambo'. A danish special forces officer who bought a 1972 Camaro and turned it into an uparmored beast so he could deliver humanitarian aid in war torn Yugoslavia during the civil war and ethnic cleansing."

– FloridianCaesar

Seen As A Traitor

"Definitely Major Hugh Thompson. I'm sure there are people who have done similarly brave things, but not that I know about. In 1968, Thompson managed to stop the My Lai massacre almost single handedly. He arrived after many civilians had already been killed, and couldn't understand how they had died."

"After realising his fellow American soldiers were firing on unarmed civilians, he landed his helicopter between the Vietnamese and the soldiers. He then told the troops that if they continued to do what they were doing, he and his crew would open fire on them. After getting back to base, he filed a complaint about what he had witnessed. His complaint was covered up, and he was shunned as a traitor. It wasn't until 1998 that the army acknowledged he did the right thing."

"It's common to be brave in war when you know that you'll be lauded as a hero - it's another thing entirely to do it knowing you'll be seen as a traitor. He turned against his troops and country to protect innocent lives, despite what it would cost him, and I think that's about as brave as you can get."

– hellebellet

Key Player In A Nuclear False Alarm

"Maybe not the most, but definitely an honorable mention: Stanislav Petrov. The man who saved the world from an all-out nuclear war in 1983."

– kwadd

The Brave WWII Combat Medic

"Desmond Doss. An army medic in WWII who was constantly belittled and abused by his battalion and superiors for refusing to use a weapon as it went against his beliefs. Then, when he landed in Okinawa and more than half of his battalion were shredded by Japanese machine gun fire, Desmond Doss crawled through the dirt over the course of several days to as many of his injured allies as he could and dragged them all the way back to the 40ft cliff they had scaled up from, then lowered them to safety.

Some of these injured men were lying 15ft from the enemy machine gun itself, and all the while Doss wore his medic helmet, which stood out like a giant bullseye on a battlefield where the Japanese soldiers were ordered to kill doctors first to crush morale. In the end he had saved the lives of 75 men, and survived with an arm fracture from a sniper round and several pieces of shrapnel embedded in his body from when he tried to kick a grenade away from him and his men. He is the only soldier without a gun to be awarded the Medal of Honor."

– -CorrectOpinion-

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"The Québécois Rambo"

"Canadian Rambo AKA Leo Major. Dude liberated an entire town in the Netherlands by himself while injured in WW2."

– Matt_Thunderc*ck

These fierce warriors had their backs up against the wall but proved to be unstoppable.

Was Awarded The Conspicuous Gallantry Cross

"Dipprasad Pun the Gurkha who took out 15-30 Taliban singlehandedly when surrounded."

– Bovineguru

Fought Without Hands

"Galvarino. He was a fierce Mapuche warrior that had both of his hands chopped off as punishment when captured by the Spanish during the Arauco war. Rather than slaughter Galvarino, the Spanish sent him back to the Mapuche to send a message, but instead of causing the Mapuche to surrender, it had the opposite effect. Galvarino decided to have two knives lashed to the stumps where his hands used to be. He learned to fight without hands while using the knives as weapons. Less than a month later, Galvarino fought with the Mapuche against the Spanish again. Around 3,000 Mapuche warriors engaged 1,500 of the Spanish on Nov. 30, 1557. at the Battle of Millarapue. Although they didn't win, Galvarino killed several of the Spanish before the army of 3,000 were all killed."

– Icy_Layer

R.I.P. Hitman

"The woman who killed the hitman her husband hired to kill her."

– sunsNr0ses

"It was so bada** I never forgot the part in the story where she has the hitman in a headlock or something and is yelling 'who sent you!?' Like, f'k."

– mdizzle106

Norse Axeman

"Battle of Stamford Bridge - the lone Norse axeman single-handedly held up the entire English army."

– OG_Campblor

No Face/No Fear

"Simo Häyhä. 'The White Death'. 500 kills in WW2. Got half his face blown off by an explosive bullet and tried to get back into the war."

– Cyrakhis

The Archer

"Mad Jack Churchill (no relation) On D-Day, he stormed the beach armed with a broadsword and a longbow. He has the only confirmed kill with a longbow in WWII. At one point he was captured, escaped, and later found playing his bagpipes. Dude was a f'king legend."

– Sandman1031

These bada**es did anything it took to survive.

An Impressive Resume

"Peter Freuchen. He was a Danish explorer, journalist, author and anthropologist. He is widely known for his exploration of the arctic circle and discovery of vast areas of Greenland. He was an indigenous rights activist, having married an Inuit woman. He escaped a death warrant issued by the Third Reich for punching Nazis. Received an academy award for the best motion picture in 1933. Won the $64,000 question as a contestant on the game show. He wrestled a polar bear and won. And as if this all wasn't enough, he escaped a near-death encounter in a blizzard by fashioning a spade out of his own frozen feces."

– SpaceMonkeyXLII

Plane Crash Survivor

"That teenage girl that was the sole survivor of a plane crash and made her way through the Amazon…. She's definitely up there!"

– smokeandlavender

From Slavery To Congress

"Robert Smalls. He escaped slavery, stole a Confederate boat, sailed away to freedom, and later served in Congress."

– SalFunction12

I would personally add Bruce Lee to the list.

I grew up Japanese-American, but I was often made fun of for my "slanted eyes" and was called "Chink" – an incredibly racist slur referring to people of Chinese descent – even though I'm not Chinese.

Being called Bruce Lee was a common occurrence throughout grade school, and because of the context under which I was being ridiculed, I loathed being associated with the martial arts legend and cultural icon.

But I should have embraced it because he was the epitome of a bad@ss.

The guy who inspired the Tekken character, Marshall Law, was a physical marvel – one who was capable of doing one-handed, two-fingered pushups and playing ping pong with nunchucks. He was also a cha-cha champion.

When it came to teaching, he was one of the pioneers in establishing inclusivity in martial arts and taught students from all walks of life.