Charles Chibitty was a Comanche code talker who used his native language to relay messages for the Allies during World War II. Chibitty, and 16 other Comanches had been recruited by the U.S. military for this purpose since Comanche was a language that was entirely unknown to the Germans, who were unable to decipher it. (The Navajos performed a similar duty in the Pacific War.) Chibitty was born on November 20, 1921, in a tent 16 miles west of Lawton, Oklahoma.

James David Watkins attended Webb School of California in Claremont, California; he subsequently graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1949 and received his master's degree in mechanical engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in 1958. Admiral Watkins spent 37 years in the Navy, serving on destroyers, cruisers and submarines, and shore assignments in personnel management. During his tenure in the U. S. Navy, …

Alexander "Sandy" Bonnyman, Jr. was a United States Marine Corps officer killed in action at Betio, Tarawa during World War II. A combat engineer, he was awarded the Medal of Honor, Purple Heart, Presidential Unit Citation, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with three Bronze Stars and the World War II Victory Medal posthumously for extreme bravery during the strategically important assault on a Japanese bombproof shelter during the Battle of Tarawa.

General John Edwin Hull (May 26, 1895 in Greenfield, Ohio - June 10, 1975) was a U.S. Army general, former Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, commanded Far East Command from 1953-1955 and the U.S. Army, Pacific from 1948-1949. He served in both world wars and was a contemporary of General George Marshall and General Omar Bradley. Because of his primary role in planning Allied operations throughout World War II, …

Mildred Helen McAfee Horton (May 12, 1900 - September 2, 1994) was an American academic who served during World War II as first director of the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) in the United States Navy. McAfee was born in Parkville, Missouri, the daughter of the Rev. Cleland Boyd McAfee and Harriet Brown. She graduated from Vassar College and received her Master's degree from the University of Chicago.

Major Henry Alfred Commiskey, Sr. (1927-1971), was a United States Marine who served during World War II in the Battle of Iwo Jima and in the Korean War in the Inchon landing. As a first lieutenant, he was the first Marine to be awarded the Medal of Honor - the nation's highest decoration for valor - for extraordinary heroism in the Korean conflict, leading a charge up a hill and killing seven enemy soldiers in hand to hand combat.

John Kitzmiller was an African-American actor. Born in Battle Creek, Michigan, Kitzmiller participated in the liberation of Italy during World War II. He began acting while stationed in this country, and appeared in Italian neorealist films. He made Italy his permanent residence and starred in more than fifty European films, often portraying an angry black man fighting racism. He played the leading role of "Jerry" in the film "Senza pietà" ("Without Pity"), …

General James F. Collins commanded the U.S. Army, Pacific from April 1961 until his retirement in 1964, and was President of the American Red Cross from 1964 until 1970. A graduate of the United States Military Academy, he gained his commission in 1927 into the Field Artillery. He later attended the National War College. He also worked in the Hawaiian Division before the outbreak of World War II, during which he served exclusively in the Pacific Theater.

Isaac Woodard, often written Isaac Woodward, was an African American WWII veteran whose maiming hours after being discharged from the U.S. military sparked national outrage and had a profound impact on the growing civil rights movement in the United States. Woodard, born March 8, 1919, enlisted in 1943 and served in the Pacific Theater as a longshoreman. He earned a battle star, for unloading ships under fire in New Guinea, and a Good Conduct Medal, …

General Dwight Edward Beach commanded the U.S. Forces Korea from 1965-1966 and U.S. Army, Pacific from September 1966 to July 1968. He gained his commission in 1932 into the Field Artillery. He served in World War II in the Pacific theater, participating in four amphibious assaults, as well as in the Korean War. Beach was born in Chelsea, Michigan, on July 20, 1908, …

Vernon "Catfish" Smith played football at the University of Georgia from 1929 to 1931 and was named an All-American in 1931. In 1929, he scored all 15 points for Georgia in an upset of Yale University – scoring one touchdown by falling on a blocked punt in the end zone and another by receiving a pass, kicking an extra point and tackling a Yale player for a safety. Incidentally, the game was played on the day Georgia dedicated Sanford Stadium.