One of the US’ top generals in World War II and Korea was a son of a US soldier who survived the Battle of Franklin

Arthur MacArthur, Jr., “The Boy Colonel”, had enlisted in the 24th Wisconsin Infantry regiment underage at the beginning of the war but had already made an impressive name for himself. At the Battle of Franklin, while leading the 24th Wisconsin of Opdycke’s brigade in the middle of the reserve line, MacArthur and his men, with a shout of “Up, Wisconsin!” plunged into the melee at the Carter House after the initial Confederate charge splintered the Union defenses. MacArthur was shot off of his horse almost immediately. Bleeding from the shoulder, he drew his saber and began cutting his way through the melee towards a ragged Southern flag waving above the fray, under which MacArthur came face-to-face with a Confederate officer. The Southerner leveled his pistol and shot MacArthur in the chest. MacArthur kept his feet and ran his opponent through, but the falling officer fired once more and hit MacArthur in the leg. Gravely wounded, MacArthur was nearly trampled before his men dragged him to safety.

Miraculously, the young colonel survived his wounds and the war. His son Douglas became one of the United States’ top generals in World War II and Korea. To this day, Arthur and Douglas are the only father and son pair besides Theodore Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. to have won the Medal of Honor.