The American Pilot who WILLINGLY Suffered Extreme Chemical Burns to Save his Fellow Crew-mates

In this new series on 'Individual Bravery', we fly on over to the Second World War to tell a tale of utmost bravery and sacrifice, that of Henry "Red" Erwin.

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🎬Video Credits:
Narrator - Cam
Editors - Kshitiz, Shantanu koli
Writer - Nick
Researcher - Daniel

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Chapters

0:00 Hot Potato
1:27 Early life of Henry Erwin
4:43 Hot potato (continued)
5:53 Medal of Honor
7:30 30 months of hell
8:31 Conclusion

[johnryder]

This was like Charles Davis Lucas, first man to win the Victoria Cross, who with no regard for his own safety threw a still hissing shell overboard from the HMS Hecla in the Baltic, saving the lives of many aboard

[indianajones]

What a guy! Stories of heroism like this should never be forgotten

[tormentorxl]

The love of his fellow soldiers overcame any fear that he had.

[hughjass]

Before he had the bravery to do what he did, he had to have the presence of mind to know what he had to do and in those circumstances, I think his presence of mind is at least as commendable as his bravery if not more so.

[brokenbridge]

What this guy did to help his crew was extraordinary. No wonder he got The Medal of Honor. He deserved it.

[habituallearner]

When I was a very small child, my family and I went to church with Mr. Erwin, his wife, and his daughter, who was my age. I feel so privileged to have known him, even though I was only a tiny little kid. To me and my Sunday School buddies he was just another nice dad, of course. It was obvious he had been severely injured but we just didn't think anything about it because that's how we'd always known him. We moved and lost touch with the family when I was about 8 and I've never seen any of them again. It wasn't until I was much older that I knew his story. To this day, I just can't fathom how anyone could summon the courage to do what he did. Thank you for keeping the memory of his selfless bravery alive.

[crocodiledundee]

Can you guys do a video please on Frank McNamara, the first Australian airman to be awarded the Victoria Cross as its a truly epic story. In 1917, Lebanon while conducting a bombing run on a Turkish railway with a flight of three other aircraft, McNamara was wounded in the foot when one of his bombs exploded prematurely. However, he didn’t have time to worry about that when his saw his wingman, Rutherford be shot down by ground fire. Seeing a huge force of Turkish cavalry converging on his mate and at great risk to himself, McNamara flew his single-seat airplane down to rescue Rutherford through a hail of small arms fire. Unfortunately, the duo combined weight caused his plane to crash, so Rutherford resorted to repairing his plane (as it was a two-seater) while McNamara held off the Turks with his revolver and his two other air buddies strafed the oncoming Turks. Once Rutherford had finished, a still-wounded McNamara jumped in the pilot as his wingman spun the propeller and quickly climbed in as they took off in seconds of the approaching Turks. McNamara then his his new plane the next 100km to their base where he finally saw medical attention.

[johnryder]

How is it so many of the great brave men of war grew up in such poverty or broken homes, from Leo Major to Carlos Hathcock, from Jackie Cochran to Audie Murphy?

[ouroboris]

He's a braver and better man than I. Salute!

[scottessery]

God sunburn hurts like hell. Poor sod must have been in agony. Amazing brave guy

[alaricgoldkuhl]

I love stories like this one, and they are many. Who else teared up?
Much is written about how war brings out the absolute worst of human nature, but it also often brings out the absolute best.

[andyhughes]

What a legendary story!! Yet again!! The Front is top-tier

[seandawson]

This hero suffered burns and his nickname was red. You can't make this stuff up. Sorry for the joke, but I just could not get over this. Upmost respect for Henry

[boredatwork]

Man melted himself for no other reward then to save his fellow men. Getting shot. Stabbed. Ya heroic... Melted like a candle takes the cake... Only other man that I can think to come close is the dentist who killed 100 japanese soldiers while fighting through multiple fatal stab and gunshot wounds to delay the enemy long enough for his patients to escape

[gm]

Asking which metal of honor recipients actions are braver over another's. Is borderline disrespectful and most of them would probably agree. A hero is a hero. The lives they saved are just as valuable as the next medal of honors recipients lives they saved. I'm grateful for all the service members who have fought for old glory, the values and the way of life that it represents. Along with all of our allies who fought along side of us. Rest in peace to them all who never made it home. God speed to all the current military personnel and a big oorah to all the devil dogs.

[ronmaximilian]

Similar stories? John Lee Levitow received the middle of honor for a similar reason during the Vietnam War. It was a board a AC-47 gunship which was dropping flares before an attack. It was hit by NVA artillery causing him to drop a flare which armed itself when it hit the ground. Like every other member of the crew, he was injured by shrapnel, but proceeded to pick up and throw the flare out the back of the plane.

[infocool]

At 2:38 (front row farthest left), you see my uncle Vern Schiller who was the Flight Engineer on that crew. At 5:36 that would have been my uncle at the desk. However, instead of just sitting there (as depicted) my uncle assisted and helped guide Red (who was blinded) to the copilot's window, extinguished him and administered first aid. My uncle received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions. This is not to take anything away from Sgt. Erwin. A true hero in every sense of the word. But, no account mentions my Uncle, and he was too modest to take any credit. These men are true heroes! God bless them all.

[tomm]

Stories like these are amazing! You should also look into Douglas Bader. He's a British ace who flew Spitfires at the beginning of the war. What makes him special you might ask? He didn't have any legs. He flew using 2 prosthetic legs! After the war, he took effort in raising money for people suffering from disabilities. He was a hero during and post WW2

[seadowg]

I think it’s a shame this story isn’t more known.

[brett]

Every Medal of Honor story is so fascinating and unbelievable that one cannot compare them to each other. Just when I think I heard the bravest thing ever done, another story comes along, joining the first story of bravery. Just the fact that KIDS did these things, dumbfounds me.