Although this will be a controversial entry, this will be the  first of my Gangster badasses of the month. Now while I don’t praise criminality, I do understand the need that created it and I am an attentive student of organized crime history. This month’s badass is the original Capo de tutti capi (boss of all bosses) which was a title he did not want, as well as the nickname that was bestowed upon him. The man is Salvatore Lucania, most famously know as Charles “Lucky” Luciano. Charlie Lucky is a badass for quite a few reasons, the first being that he had the balls to play Chess with the two reigning mustached Petes (Fat Joe Masseria and Don Salvatore Maranzano), and walk away holding all the chips. To understand how badass that feat was, you have to understand just how evil and cut-throat the underworld was/is. Lucky organized a den of thieves, killers and… [Read more]

It is one thing to show super-human aptitude for a country that loves you, but to do so for a country that deems you to be sub-human – to the point that they withhold honors earned in the line of duty is beyond belief. When you watch movies depicting D.Day (Normandy), the Allied attacks on the Nazi surge, and anything dealing with the 1940’s militarily, it is easy to forget that black people existed, let alone fought. It being very much a white man’s world during these times, blacks were kept out of books and camera view, especially when films were being made to record the military. Now think about how bad it must’ve been during World War I for African Americans who served in the Army. This sad fact led to men like Sergeant Henry Lincoln Johnson being overlooked and ignored, even when taking 21 injuries from an army of German soldiers as he… [Read more]

War movies love to highlight snipers, and I know why, they appear to be mysterious, accurate and have the patience of 1,000 old school mothers packed into one. But you have to wonder, how much of what is shown in Hollywood is true? Are they revered or are they scoffed at as cowards? Are they really that accurate, or do they have a whole shit-ton of gadgets to help?  The biggest question is, can one man, hidden away for days with a weapon, have the ability to wipe out droves of unsuspecting men like a movie? Apparently the answer to this question is yes, the answer to this crazy sniper legend can be summed up in two words – White Death. Finnish hero and dead-eye marksman Simo Häyhä was credited with over 700 kills in the Finnish winter war of 1940. When the Soviet Union with a population of 171 Million invaded his small country… [Read more]

If we’re going to talk badasses, I think it only appropriate to start with the man who comes to mind when I think of the congressional Medal of Honor. Audie Leon Murphy amassed a total of 33 medals in his day along with the congressional Medal of Honor for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty”. Audie earned just about every medal there was to earn for being godly on the battlefield and then went on to star as himself in war movies before suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and clinical depression. Like many men of his time, Audie’s life was eventually taken by the one thing he couldn’t fight, a piece of crap private plane transporting him on a business trip. What makes Audie a badass? Well given the technology and advances in military weaponry you will never see a guy like this… [Read more]