Old fashioned manly men

Pat Mustard

We hear so much doom and gloom these days, I thought it might raise the spirits to set up a thread about men with good old fashioned values.

Here is an article about Sigurdur Petursson, to get the ball rolling:

Ignoring the danger to his own life, he attacked a 300kg shark, in order to protect his crew.

An Icelandic fishing captain, known as "the Iceman", wrestled and killed a 300kg shark to stop it attacking his crew, according to witnesses. Captain Sigurdur Petursson was on a beach in Kuummiit, east Greenland, watching his crew processing a catch when he saw the shark swimming towards his men. The skipper of the trawler Erik the Red, ran into the shallow water and grabbed the shark by its tail with his bare hands. He dragged it off to dry land and killed it with his knife.

Icelandic author and journalist Reynir Traustason, who knows the trawler captain, said the act was typical of the man.

Do we have any other examples?

Wibbs

Man, 80, fights bear, falls off cliff – and survives

"An octogenarian versus a hungry Russian bear. It was a confrontation that could have ended only one way, and yet shepherd Yusuf Alchagirov was sitting upright in bed this week and happily munching on the three traditional pies his family had baked in celebration at his survival.

The bear approached Alchagirov, 80, in a raspberry field in the southern Russian region of Kabardino-Balkaria last week, but despite his age, Alchagirov showered kicks and headbutts on the bear and managed to knock it off balance.

The bear, apparently irritated by the feisty shepherd, tossed him off a cliff and sauntered away, said Alchagirov in an interview with local television. He was hospitalised with bruises, bite wounds and four broken ribs, but was spared a mauling, and released within a few days. It is not known whether the bear suffered any lasting injuries.

"I got off easy. It would have killed me if I'd chickened out," Alchagirov said."

designbydan

The Mustard wrote: »

Do we have any other examples?

I went into the bathroom this morning without first putting on socks or shoes.

But my feet withstood the cold tiles within.

I'm available as a guest speaker on manliness to many functions, PM me for details on pricing.

Jawgap

Bishnu Shrestha.......

......who, singlehandedly killed three bandits, wounded eight and drove off another 30. Snce then Shrestha has been given medals, cash and accolades for his outstanding valor and prowess. The Indian Gurkha regiment he recently retired from persuaded him to return to active duty so he could receive a cash award and a promotion. Bishnu Shrestha's father had also served with the same unit, and retired from it 29 years ago.

All this occurred because Bishnu Shrestha was on a train where about forty bandits, pretending to be passengers, suddenly revealed themselves, and, armed with knives, swords and pistols, stopped the train in the jungle, and proceeded to rob the hundreds of passengers. When the bandits reached Shrestha, he was ready to give up his valuables, but then the 18 year old girl sitting next to him was grabbed by the robbers, who wanted to rape her.

The girl, who knew Shrestha was a retired soldier, appealed to him for help. So he pulled out the large, curved khukuri knife that all Gurkha soldiers (and many Gurkha civilians) carry, and went after the bandits. In the narrow aisle of the train, a trained fighter like Shrestha had the advantage. Although some of the bandits had pistols, they were either fake (a common ploy in India), inoperable, or handled by a man who didn't want to get too close to an angry Gurkha.

After about ten minutes of fighting in the train aisles, eleven bandits were dead or wounded, and the rest of them decided to drop their loot (200 cell phones, 40 laptops, lots of jewelry, and nearly $10,000 in cash) and flee. The train resumed its journey promptly, in case the bandits came back, and to get medical aid for the eight bandits who had been cut up by Shrestha (who was also wounded in one hand). Shrestha required two months of medical treatment to recover the full use of his injured hand.

Tokyo

Great idea for a thread!

Due to my love of the sport, one person who stands out for me in this would be the mountaineer, Joe Simpson.

In 1985, Simpson and climbing partner Simon Yates made a first-ascent of the previously unclimbed West Face of Siula Grande (6,344m) in the Cordillera Huayhuash in the Peruvian Andes. On the descent, Simpson broke his leg, and while trying to rescue themselves, a storm moved in, and Yates had to cut the rope rather than have them both be pulled over a cliff.

When Yates cut the rope, Simpson plummeted down the cliff and into a deep crevasse. Exhausted and suffering from hypothermia, Yates dug himself a snow cave to wait out the storm. The next day, Yates carried on descending the mountain by himself. When he reached the crevasse he realized the situation that Simpson had been in and what had happened when he cut the rope. After calling for Simpson and hearing no reply, Yates made the assumption that Simpson had died and so continued down the mountain alone.

Simpson, however, was still alive. He had survived the 150-foot fall despite his broken leg and had landed on a small ledge inside the crevasse. When Simpson regained consciousness, he discovered that the rope had been cut and realized that Yates would presume that he was dead. He therefore had to save himself. It was impossible for Simpson to climb up to the entrance of the crevasse (because of the overhanging ice and his broken leg). Therefore his only choice was to lower himself deeper into the crevasse and hope that there was another way out. After lowering himself, Simpson found another small entrance and climbed back onto the glacier via a steep snow slope.

From there, Simpson spent three days without food and with almost no water, crawling and hopping five miles back to their base camp. This involved navigating the glacier (which was scattered with more crevasses) and the moraines below. Exhausted and almost completely delirious, he reached base camp only a few hours before Yates intended to return to civilization.

Simpson's survival is widely regarded by mountaineers as amongst the most amazing pieces of mountaineering lore.

wexie

Audie Murphy :

The 19-year-old Murphy received the Medal of Honor after single-handedly holding off an entire company of Germans for an hour at the Colmar Pocket in France in January 1945, then leading a successful counterattack while wounded and out of ammunition.

Murphy mounted the abandoned, burning tank destroyer and began firing its .50 caliber machine gun at the advancing Germans, killing a squad crawling through a ditch towards him. For an hour, Murphy stood on the tank destroyer returning German fire from foot soldiers and advancing tanks, killing or wounding 50 Germans. He sustained a leg wound during his stand, and stopped only after he ran out of ammunition. Murphy rejoined his men, disregarding his own wound, and led them back to repel the Germans. He insisted on remaining with his men while his wounds were treated

In the last few years of his life he was plagued by money problems, but refused offers to appear in alcohol and cigarette commercials because he did not want to set a bad example

They sure don't make em like that anymore.

Drexel

mike_ie wrote: »

Great idea for a thread!

Due to my love of the sport, one person who stands out for me in this would be the mountaineer, Joe Simpson.

In 1985, Simpson and climbing partner Simon Yates made a first-ascent of the previously unclimbed West Face of Siula Grande (6,344m) in the Cordillera Huayhuash in the Peruvian Andes. On the descent, Simpson broke his leg, and while trying to rescue themselves, a storm moved in, and Yates had to cut the rope rather than have them both be pulled over a cliff.

I seen the doc film on this. Was amazing.

Tokyo

jonny666 wrote: »

I seen the doc film on this. Was amazing.

The book far better in that it's a first party narrative, and it gets inside the head of the author throughout the entire accident, and then as he proceeded to rescue himself, but yes, as documentaries go, it dealt with the story very well.

I remember at the time the documentary came out, Tom Cruise was trying to buy the rights to it to turn it into an action packed Mountain: Impossible type thing, with Tom playing the part of Joe - thankfully that never came to fruition.

Pat Mustard

jonny666 wrote: »

I seen the doc film on this. Was amazing.

Touching the Void. Gripping stuff.

The Joe Simpson interview is interesting as well, dealing with the aftermath, where Simon Yates received so much criticism for eventually having no choice but to cut the rope that was slowly dragging him over a precipice.

“People get highly emotional and irrational about the cutting of the rope. Simon did more than anybody could possibly have been asked to do to save someone’s life. Everybody misses that crucial point. He took a very pragmatic decision. He wasn’t to know I went down a crevasse. He wasn’t cutting a rope to kill me; he was cutting a rope to save himself. Then, not having died, initially he beat himself up about it. There’s a lot of guilt in surviving things and it’s irrational."


Simpson maintains that neither of them could understand the “strong frisson of shock” in the climbing community. They could have let it screw them up but they simply analysed what went wrong, became better mountaineers and “just got on with it”. He has a favourite Tibetan saying, ge garne. “It crudely translates as 's--- happens’. You just get on.”



Simpson got on with being very famous. Yates slightly less so. They both went on many more climbs together but Yates, married with two children, now lives in the Lake District, with his own guiding and trekking business. Simpson has retired from climbing. They are no longer in touch. When they collaborated on the film of Touching the Void in 2003, they had not seen one another for 10 years. “It’s not that we’ve stopped being friends, just that we moved apart.”

D'Agger

Have to make sure this Kerryman is on the first page at least!



I'm sure most of you know of Tom Crean but if not then you're missing a story!

Tokyo

^ Indeed. An Unsung Hero: Tom Crean – Antarctic Survivor" is well worth the read.

Wibbs

Tom Crean was a Hard man. Yet to his family and friends a softly spoken gentleman. Amazing guy. Funny you really don't see male faces like that anymore. Actually that whole Shackleton Antarctic expedition and the men involved were incredible. Didn't lose a single man. The epic sea crossing in an open boat to get help at the end was beyond belief. Tom Crean being one of those in that trip(he insisted on going, the mad Kerry bastid ). For a fortnight in the antarctic ocean, surviving a hurricane that sank other full sized ships in the area, they then had to cross the mountainous South Georgia to get to the whaling station on the other side, a feat no one had attempted before and they did this in stout brogues and wooly jumpers and about ten foot of rope, all the while being presumably weighed down by their bloody gargantuan liathróidi. A good few years ago apparently a group of British soldiers from the SAS attempted the same route but were beaten back and those guys ain't exactly weak. IIRC only Shackleton's team and another English guy a few decades later have done the same crossing. Oh and throughout this Antarctic expedition and disaster they took photos and film of the whole thing. As you do like. When you're hard.

Jawgap

Jim Telfer.....the best sports speech ever....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pHqw4XZhPE

".....a bunch of cats could move that!"

Willie John McBride (wouldn't like to be in an ice-cream queue when he's around:) )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU-c4YyEVMY

Melodeon

Unashamedly lifted from Reddit, I give you Fridtjof Nansen, champion skier and ice skater, Polar explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize laureate:

jackofalltrades

Norman Cyril Jackson a flight engineer in the RAF during World War 2.

Having bombed the target, Jackson's Lancaster (serial ME669) was attacked by a German night fighter and a fuel tank in the starboard wing caught fire. Jackson, already wounded from shell splinters, strapped on a parachute and equipped himself with a fire extinguisher before climbing out of the aircraft and onto the wing, whilst the aeroplane was flying at 140 miles per hour (230 km/h), in order to put out the fire. He gripped the air intake on the leading edge of the wing with one hand, and fought the fire with the other. The flames seared his hands, face, and clothes. The fighter returned and hit the bomber with a burst of gunfire that sent two bullets into his legs. The burst also swept him off the wing.

Jeremy Clarkson also did a good documentary on people who have received the Victoria Cross, some amazing stories of bravery in it.

tritium

A little bit different but no less deserving of mention - I used this source for the bio because its well written but details on him are easily available elsewhere

http://www.cotwa.info/2013/04/a-broken-man-goes-boston-marathon-and.html

Inside a Broken Man There Lived a Hero





The photo of a long-haired man in a cowboy hat comforting a traumatized victim who appeared to have lost both his legs has quickly become the iconic image to emerge from the Boston Marathon bombing.

The man in the hat is Carlos Arredondo, and he has been a broken man for a long time. His life has been marked by unspeakable heartache.

Carlos, a native of Costa Rica, immigrated to the United States when he was 19 and settled in Boston. He's worked as a bus driver, a landscaper, and a handyman. He married in 1983, and had two sons, Alexander and Brian. He and his wife divorced, and the boys went to Maine to live with their mother. Carlos remarried and moved to Florida.

Then in August, 2004, on Mr. Arredondo's 44th birthday, three Marines showed up at his home in Hollywood, Florida. Mr. Arredondo was painting a fence, and at first he thought his son, 20-year-old Marine Lance Cpl. Alexander Arredondo, had come back from Iraq for a surprise visit. Then Carlos saw that Alex wasn't with them. The Marines gave Mr. Arredondo news no father wants to hear. Alexander had been on a mission to secure a building, and as he went to check on the well-being of his comrades, a sniper picked him off. Alexander was dead before he was legally allowed to buy a drink.

Mr. Arredondo admits he “went insane.” He smashed the Marines’ windshield with a sledgehammer, doused their van with gasoline and set it -- and himself -- on fire. Carlos almost died, and he ended up spending ten months in the hospital. He insisted on attending his son's funeral, but had to be carried in on a stretcher. Carlos' outburst made national headlines. He had lost his son serving our country, but a lot of people wanted to hold him responsible for damaging government property. The military forgave him, and the hospital that cared for him for so many months absorbed his hospital bills. But his burns debilitated him, and he was forced to quit his job as a handyman.

Carlos and his wife moved back to Boston to be closer to Carlos' younger son, Brian. Carlos decided to turn Alex's loss into something positive, so he began traveling the country in his Nissan pickup to talk about peace. He went from state to state -- 26 in all -- attending anti-war rallies with a portable memorial to his son: a coffin containing Alex's military boots, uniform, and Purple Heart, as well as photographs of his late son. He successfully campaigned to have the post office of his hometown renamed in Alex's honor, and created a scholarship in Alex’s name at his son’s high school alma mater. He sent care packages to soldiers in Iraq. In 2007, he was beaten at an anti-war demonstration in Washington.

Then, more unspeakable heartache for Carlos. Brian was just 17 when the Marines showed up at his mother's door with the terrible news about his older brother. After that, Brian became despondent over Alex’s death, and it became clear that the young man was suffering from severe depression. The family's efforts to get him treatment failed. A few days before Christmas in 2011, Brian Arredondo took his own life at the age of 24.

What more could happen to Carlos Arredondo? This past Monday, the nation learned the answer to that question.

Carlos was sitting near the finish line of the Boston Marathon to cheer on a friend who was running the race in honor of Alex. When the explosions rocked Boylston Street, and people were fleeing for safety, Carlos Arredondo charged headfirst toward the spot where a bomb had exploded. At the age of 52, he ran across the street, jumped the security fence, and landed on a sidewalk smeared in blood. It looked like a war zone. Carlos couldn't help everyone, but he saw a young man around the age his sons would be if they were still alive, crumpled on the sidewalk with a blank expression on his face and a leg that was only bone below the knee. Carlos couldn't save his sons, but maybe he could save this stranger.

Carlos asked the young man his name and kept talking to him. “Stay with me,” he told him over and over, as he tried to block the young man's view of his own legs. To stanch the flow of blood, Carlos squeezed a tourniquet fashioned from a discarded T-shirt he found on the street, then he put the blood-soaked man in a wheelchair and frantically ferried him through the chaos, smoke, and debris.

“Ambulance! Ambulance! Ambulance!” Carlos yelled. Somehow, Carlos got Jeff Bauman, Jr. -- that's the young man's name -- to an ambulance. Mr. Bauman is just 27, and he had lost both legs, but thanks to Carlos, he was still alive. Carlos felt that God was with him that day. Before he went home, he unfurled a small American flag he carried in memory of his son. Now, it was dripping with another man's blood.

And when the smoke had lifted on Boylston Street and the tales of carnage and valor started to be told, reporters clamored to speak with Carlos, and the entire nation learned what he had done. In story after story, reporters related the tragic tales of Carlos' sons, and about how Carlos temporarily "went insane" when he was told that Alex had died, and about Carlos' crusade to make the world a safer place.

And in every story, and on every television report, they called this unbreakable man what he's been all along: a hero.

MagicMarker

I think Sir Ranulph Fiennes deserves a mention, the world's greatest living explorer. Cut off his own frostbitten fingers don't you know.

Oh, and 7 months after a heart attack and double heart bypass surgery, he ran 7 marathons in 7 days for the lols.