Everyone Thought He Was Just A School Janitor, Then They Discovered His Heroic WWII Past

[Music] hi awesomes and welcome to another video before the video starts make sure to subscribe and turn notifications on to never miss our videos as crowds of young men throng the hallways of a busy military academy a lone figure winds his way through the crowd an older man he busies himself with sweeping floors and cleaning up the mess the cadets continually create but while few even stopped to give him a second glance this janitor is hiding a secret past that's almost too incredible to believe in the late 1960s that man a Colorado native named William Crawford began working as a janitor at the USAF Academy in Colorado Springs his job was to keep the building neat and tidy taking care of everything from emptying the trash to cleaning bathrooms and by the 1970s Crawford known to his friends as bill had become a familiar figure to the cadets who called the academy home what's more many of those who have crossed his path have said that he was good at his job still he never did anything to make himself particularly memorable to the young men preoccupied with exams and parades indeed Colonel James mojgan who was a cadet at the Colorado complex in the late 1970s has recalled a man who was easily overlooked bill didn't move too quickly he wrote in a 2016 article for the United Service Organizations on Patrol magazine and in fact you could say he even shuffled a bit yet although the cadets did not seem to consider Crawford anyone of importance a chance find in a military history book would change their opinions for good as moshpit would discover in fact the humble janitor was concealing a heroic past it was in the fall of 1976 that moshpit was flicking through a book about world war ii and in it he came across some interesting details about the difficult ground campaign that Allied forces had fought in Italy in 1943 in particular maj gets attention was caught by the story of one man he had been a private belonging to the US Army's 36th infantry two and on September 13 1943 that private had found himself in the midst of a brutal battle at Hill 424 an enemy held position close to Alta villa Italy while the rest of his platoon came under heavy machine-gun fire however this private took it upon himself to take down the enemy gun placement totally solo even more amazingly he managed to crawl close to the gun and toss a hand grenade in its direction and as a consequence he obliterated the weapon and killed its crew incredibly though the private didn't stop there as his platoon advanced he made his way towards another enemy machine-gun and yet again he wiped out the weapon and its crew with a carefully aimed grenade the soldier then attacked a third machine gun post causing the crew to flee and after gaining control of the enemy weapon he turned its firepower on the fleeing German forces just like that he had secured the advance of his platoon unfortunately however the private was captured later on in the battle on Hill 424 and assumed dead by his comrades nevertheless news of his brave actions soon spread his father even accepted a Medal of Honour in his stead the highest military honor awarded in the United States and when the private emerged unscathed from captivity in 1944 he found himself a hero of the first order when moshpit stumbled across this incredible story moreover he couldn't believe his eyes that was all because the name given for the private was none other than William Crawford and he had exactly the same name as the janitor he had been strolling past without a second glance for months intrigued Maj get approached the janitor with a copy of the book after staring at it in silence for some time Crawford confirmed that the private described and the dramatic passages was indeed him according to Maj --get Crawford's response was simple that was one day in my life he said and it happened a long time ago Crawford had remained in the military until 1967 retiring as a master sergeant upon his return to civilian life he had then started work cleaning the hallways of the Academy in fact he lived a quiet life out of the spotlight ever since and at that point had never even attended an official ceremony for his Medal of Honor however with mosh pits discovery all that was understandably about to change the news that the lowly janitor had a secret past as a war hero spread rapidly Han cadets who had previously dismissed him were suddenly eager to share their time in addition moshpit believes that the revelations also had a profound effect on Crawford after that fall day in 1976 he wrote in the on patrol article he seemed to move with more purpose his shoulders didn't seem to be as stooped and he met our greeting with a direct gaze and a stronger good morning in return yet despite his newfound acknowledgment Crawford continued working as a janitor cleaning up after the cadets moshpit meanwhile has also recalled his graduation ceremony in June 1977 when the aging Crawford wished him luck in his future career eventually then Crawford retired to the town of Pueblo Colorado and he was in good company at the time the community was home to no fewer than four living recipients of the Medal of Honor but Crawford's story still wasn't quite over yet in 1984 more than four decades after the Battle of Hill 424 he was invited to attend a special graduation event at the United States Air Force Academy there in the presence of cadets and officers President Ronald Reagan formally presented Crawford with his Medal of Honor in March 2008 81 Crawford passed away in recognition of his status flags were flown at half-mast across the state and appropriately he was buried in the USAF Academy Cemetery in Colorado Springs the only non enlisted soldier ever to be bestowed with such an honor it's a fitting and then for a hero who could so easily have been forgotten thank you for watching our video make sure that you are subscribed and don't forget to like it [Music] [Music]

Channel: Awesome!

Views: 1,227,756

Rating: 4.877604 out of 5

Keywords: Awesome!, Awesome, Everyone, Thought, He, Was, Just, School, Janitor, Then, They, Discovered, His, Heroic, WWII, Past

Id: Y46QTMtPF-4

Length: 6min 50sec (410 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 03 2019