Col. Ethan Allen: Born on Jan. 21, 1738, this farmer-turned-soldier, famous as the leader of the "Green Mountain Boys," fought to bring the nation into being -- and his beloved Vermont into the nation.

John Armstrong: Despite Secretary of War John Armstrong's assurances to the contrary, British forces were able to invade Washington and burn the Capitol and the White House during the War of 1812.

Maj. Gen. Benedict Arnold: Everyone knows him as the great traitor of the Revolutionary War. But few people realize that Benedict Arnold's countrymen felt his betrayal so keenly because they had regarded him as a hero.

2nd Lt. Vernon Baker: After a segregated Army ignored the heroic acts of 2nd Lt. Vernon Baker during World War II, it finally recognized his achievements with the Medal of Honor over fifty years later.

Capt. Victor Baranski: His courage and fluency in languages made Baranski an ideal candidate for the dangerous OSS mission. His World War II assignment took the former Army mess sergeant behind enemy lines into Slovenia.

Col. Francis Channing Barlow: At the Battle of Antietam on Sept. 17., 1862, Col. Francis Channing Barlow had joint command of the 61st and 64th New York regiments; his forces repulsed a Confederate attack and in one maneuver took 300 prisoners.

Col. Charles Beckwith: Col. "Chargin' Charlie" Beckwith was a tough Army leader who left little to chance. But not even he could overcome the obstacles that stood between his elite commandos and the liberation of U.S. hostages in Iran.

Capt. John Morrison Birch: Capt. John Morrison Birch, who spent World War II working behind enemy lines in China on behalf of the Office of Strategic Services, is considered by many to be the first casualty of the Cold War.

Lt. Col. Florence A. Blanchfield: Under Blanchfield's administration, the Army Nurse Corps expanded from 1,000 to 57,000. Her nurses served in every theater of World War II -- and suffered the highest casualty rate of all the war's servicewomen.

Sgt. William H. Carney: At the Civil War battle for Fort Wagner, the actions of Carney and 46 other African-American volunteers with the 54th Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, soon silenced those who predicted "the Negro would not fight."