December 30, 2023

Readers’ Choice: Best of Valor for 2023

A compilation of 2023’s most-read “Profiles of Valor” honoring American warriors.

The Patriot Post is a primary touchstone of American Liberty for millions of Patriot grassroots activists and influencers across our nation. Please keep the flame of Liberty burning bright next year with your support of our 2023 year-end campaign today.

In this special year-end edition, our editors have compiled a list of Mark Alexander’s most-read 2023 “Profiles of Valor.” You can read all of Alexander’s Valor columns in his Armed Forces and Military Service archive.

Profiles of Valor: God Bless You, Gary Harrell — Gary was a family man of strong faith, a highly respected leader of warriors, a fierce defender of American Liberty, a Patriot, and a friend.

Profiles of Valor: Col. Paris Davis (USA, Ret.) — “He told me to move out. I just disobeyed the order.”

Profiles of Valor: Michael Thornton — “Fear is a great thing, but you have to take that fear and focus it into something good.”

Profiles of Valor: MSgt Roy P. Benavidez — Call sign “Tango Mike Mike” — “That Mean Mexican”!

Profiles of Valor: Alvin C. York — “I think any man who talks against the interests of his own country ought to be arrested and put in jail, not excepting senators and colonels.”

Profiles of Valor: Audie Murphy — “Just hold the phone and I’ll let you talk to one of the bastards.”

Profiles of Valor: Gregory ‘Pappy’ Boyington — “There is only a hairline’s difference between a Navy Cross and a general court-martial.”

Profiles of Valor: Maj. Joseph Jacob Foss, USMC, MoH — “If you blink, you could miss the fight. If you blink during the fight, you could die.”

Profiles of Valor: Harry Truman’s Medal of Honor? — “I would rather have the blue band of the Medal of Honor around my neck than to be president of the United States.”

Profiles of Valor: Larry Taylor’s Medal of Honor Ceremony — “I told my men, ‘You never leave a man on the ground,’ and we never did.”

Profiles of Valor: George Lewis Gillespie — The connection between the Revolutionary War’s Overmountain Men militia and today’s Medal of Honor.

Profiles of Valor: William Carney — “Boys, I only did my duty; the old flag never touched the ground!”

Profiles of Valor: MA2 Michael A. Monsoor — “He made an instantaneous decision to save our teammates.”

Profiles of Valor: Black Hawk Down — “Without a doubt, I owe my life to those two men and their bravery.”

Profiles of Valor: LTC Matt Urban — “He killed him with a trench knife, took the German’s machine pistol, and fired at the onrushing enemy.”

And our Christmas Valor post:

A Christmas Truce on the Western Front — “Silent night, holy night, All is calm, all is bright.”

Join us in daily prayer for our Patriots in uniform — Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen — standing in harm’s way in defense of American Liberty, and for Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please consider a designated gift to support the National Medal of Honor Sustaining Fund through Patriot Foundation Trust, or make a check payable to “NMoH Sustaining Fund” and mail it to Patriot Foundation Trust, PO Box 407, Chattanooga, TN 37401-0407.

Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.