Scratch

my teacher last year told me a story about his grand (or maybe great grand) father
he was like some kid from austria
then some nazi dudes kidnapped him and a bunch of other boys from his town and put them on a train to germany
but he liked jumped off of the train right on the border to germany and walked all the way home and he had to like stay at strangers houses and stuff
but he made it back home in the end

isnt really a war story but its pretty cool and happened during wwii anyway

This one wasn't passed from reletives, but it's rather unknown and incredible:

In 1968, 4 Green Berets and 8 South Vietnamese soldiers were airlifted on a secret mission into a VC safe haven in Cambodia. Seconds after they landed they were surrounded by a whole VC battalion, and cut down, 4 being killed, and the others seriously wounded. At base, a sergeant named Rodriguez (don't know his first name) volunteered to fly out and help evacuate the troops, which were carrying vital documents that couldn't be lost. Seconds after landing, Rodriguez was shot in the head, face, and leg, but somehow wasn't killed and kept going. He tried to load the men onto his helicopter, but after running back to retrieve the last man, the chopper was shot down by an RPG, and he rescued the men from the burning Huey. For hours he took fire and called in air strikes before another chopper could come in. While running to retreive the dead and wounded once this chopper had landed, a mortar shell exploded behind him, and someone unloaded a machine gun into his stomach, exposing his entrails. Yet somehow he kept going under excruciating pain. Finally, before loading the last man into the chopper, a VC soldier charged at him and stabbed his arms, but he pulled out his own knife and killed him. Eventually he made it back to the chopper, and passed out the moment he was on board, obviously dead. While they were zipping him up in his body bag, Rodriguez spat in the mans face. Then they realized he was still alive. It took years to fully recover, and it was a miracle he did. He was awarded the distinguished service medal, but was eventually awarded the Medal of Honor after retirement in 1986. He died in 1997, with two pieces of shrapnel still embedded in his heart.