Mark Bryan

"As a child, Bryan Rigg was a menace. He was a tornado who couldn't speak intelligibly or control his temper, and was as likely to be found on the roof as he was on the ground. Today, this boy is a man who speaks two languages and eventually got a PhD. His doctoral thesis was so extraordinary it became an acclaimed book, covered by national and international media. After college, he served in the Israel Defense Forces, accepted an officer commission...

"Imagine strapping on a highly flammable 70-pound pack and entering combat as a surefire walking target— and you'd only begin to understand the job, and the horror, of [a] Marine Corps flamethrower man. That's precisely what Hershel 'Woody' Williams did in World War II, most importantly in February 1945 on Iwo Jima, one of the Pacific War's toughest battles. A few days into the battle, Marines were fighting hard for an airfield, and his captain...