Man has created some of the toughest sons of bitches on the face of the planet through both real events and fiction over and over again throughout history. In the movies we have Rambo, Terminator, and James Bond. In video games, Master Chief, Snake, and Duke Nuke’em. Through reality we had George Washington, the man who killed Osama Bin Laden, and King Leonidas. Yet somehow throughout the course of history, what is possibly the manliest of men to have walked the face of this planet, seems to have slipped through the cracks of the system and remains rather anonymous. I am talking about none other than Adrian Carton de Wiart.

For those who aren’t aware as to how badass this man truly is, here’s a sample of the first paragraph from his Wikipedia page.

Sir Adrian Paul Ghislain Carton de Wiart (5 May 1880 – 5 June 1963), was a British Army officer of Belgian and Irish descent. He served in the Boer War, First World War, and Second World War; was shot in the face, head, stomach, ankle, leg, hip, and ear; survived a plane crash; tunnelled out of a POW camp; and bit off his own fingers when a doctor refused to amputate them. He later wrote that “Frankly I had enjoyed the war” when describing his service in the First World War.

Excuse me for a minute. The man was shot in his face, head stomach, ankle, leg, hip, ear, survived a crash, escaped a POW camp, bit off his own fingers, and then said he enjoyed the war. I don’t think there is a single man on the planet since the days of King Leonidas who would have been bold enough to make that statement, none-the-less actually mean it.

With his black eye patch and empty sleeve, Carton de Wiart looked like an elegant pirate, and became a figure of legend.

It’s kind of hard to argue with his look, but then to even further amplify the level of awesomeness this man achieved in life comes through with the level of alpha he displayed among his comrades.

Carton de Wiart’s serious wound in the Boer War instilled in him a strong desire for physical fitness and he ran, jogged, walked, and played sports on a regular basis. In male company he was a delightful character and must hold the world record for bad language.

Basically he embodied everything that is manly. And of his escapades, the only real thing mentioned of him is that he had a wife who was 23 years younger than him. Although most of us now would laugh at marriage, looking at his time frame it was the norm, and hey at least he can be commended for picking up someone far younger than himself.

Carton de Wiart was also a man whom participated in both World Wars. While most men were battered into mush from the effects of PTSD, this man had enough testicular fortitude to both forge his way through two of the worst wars in history while continuing to live his life as he pleased until his death. For that I commend him. And while his life itself tended to embark upon several significant events, I’d rather keep this as a general overview, hoping to inspire some reading upon you as to whom this great man really was. And so with that I’ll just resolve this post with a quote of his.

Governments may think and say as they like, but force cannot be eliminated, and it is the only real and unanswerable power. We are told that the pen is mightier than the sword, but I know which of these weapons I would choose.

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