When we talk about resilience, in an object, we're thinking about its ability to bounce back after being smashed. A racquetball pops back to "round" after squeezed. But a house, hit by a falling tree, caves in - hopefully not in a living area.

A Soldier's resilience allows him/her to bounce back when something bad happens - combat injury, family problems, financial woes or other major stressors. The Soldier who can bounce back from problems is the one that the enemy does not want to face.

Here are seven figures from U.S. military history whose strength and resilience will always inspire Americans to continued victories.

Gen. George Washington's Tactical Retreats

The Father of Our Country won so many unlikely victories that cynics are forced to refer to him as history's "luckiest" commander.  In reality, Gen. Washington was at his best when things were worse. At least half a dozen times, Washington's innovative tactics preserved his men and positioned them for later attacks.

For example, Aug. 29, 1776, a 21,000-strong British amphibious defeated Washington's force of 11,000 Soldiers at Long Island. The redcoats forced the fighting men back against the East River, cornering them for a massacre. However, when a thick fog descended, Washington daringly used the natural cover to save his men. During the night, in the fog, one entrenchment after another stole across the river in boats, in the order he assigned.  Washington rode up and down the ranks on his horse, commanding them to "keep quiet and keep moving."  

The next morning, British officer Ben Tallmadge glanced back across the river and spotted the last boat leaving through the mist. He saw a tall figure in a long cloak - Washington, the COC, was the last man to escape.

It wasn't until December 1776 that Washington won his first major victory.  But at Trenton, he captured 1,000 enemy troops at the cost of only four American lives, and the war began to turn.

Washington lost many battles and suffered many sadnesses.  In the end we barely remember them.  The other army was the one to surrender.

Lori Hill's Coolness Under Fire

In March 2006, Warrant officer Lori Hill was piloting one of two helicopters when insurgents rained heavy fire on both in Iraq. Hill maneuvered her helicopter to draw the main fire, and returned suppressive fire to protect "boots on the ground." Her helicopter was hit many times and Hill was personally shot, but she continued to provide cover and communications for the retreating troops. She said, modestly, that flying the chopper was "kind of like driving without your power steering." She landed safely, also saving her crew. She was the first woman to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Spc. Christopher Waiters' "High Noon" Moment

You've probably seen Clint Eastwood or John Wayne walk down Main Street with rifles firing at them from either side - in the movies, that is. Spc. Christopher Waiters, an Army medic, lived the experience. IMAX effects were not in play.

In April 2007, his Stryker crew was on patrol in Baqoubah, Iraq. They heard a colossal explosion and when they arrived at the attack, a Bradley Fighting Vehicle was on fire, personnel trapped inside. Insurgents were firing at it, trying to finish off the men in the vehicle.  

Waiters began running to their aid, across open ground, as his crew shouted for him to return to his own vehicle. Bullets immediately kicked up dirt all around him. "I counted 17 shooters," he said, "and then I got scared."  But he stayed low, and ran as fast as he could, directly through the hail of bullets. He climbed onto the Bradley, pried open the hatch, and pulled two disoriented Soldiers out - also retrieving the body of a deceased Soldier. He received the Distinguished Service Cross. "I still don't know who those two guys were," he said, "but I do know they're alive."

Spc. Waiters had endured 10 months' worth of daily firefights and roadside bombs in Iraq, but when two fellow Soldiers needed rescue, he was ready.

Spc. Monica Lin Brown's Valor

Army medic Spc. Monica Lin Brown received the Silver Star - our country's third-highest medal for valor - when she equalled Spc. Waiters' feat, racing through insurgent small-arms fire to save Soldiers in a 2007 firefight in Afghanistan.

Sgt. Alvin C. York's Moral Dilemma

Sgt. Alvin C. York, a crack-shot Tennessee hunter and CMH winner, is famous for almost single-handedly defeating an entire German battalion in WWI. He used his shooting skills to calmly take down one enemy after another until the entire unit surrendered to him.

What isn't as popularly known is that Sgt. York had originally objected to military shooting on religious grounds. Maj. George E. Buxton reasoned with York about right, wrong, and God's teachings, and gave York a 10-day leave to go home and meditate on his moral problems. Sgt. York "bounced back" from pressure on his beliefs, as well as from enemy fire, to achieve one of the greatest victories in America's history.

Gen. Ulysses Grant's Battle with Dependency

Gen. U.S. Grant had a tendency to drink in front of the wrong people, and his small frame - about 135 pounds - sometimes left him teetering after only a few drinks. His reputation became a major stressor for him. By 1854 he had been run out of the Army.

When the Civil War broke out in 1861, his country called on him. In early 1862 he won two major battles at Forts Henry and Donelson, and bounced back to launch a storied career. Historian James McPherson wrote, "In the end ... his (sickness) may have made him a better general. His struggle for self-discipline enabled him to understand and discipline others; the humiliation of prewar failures gave him a quiet humility. ..."  Gen. Grant returned from his earlier professional defeats to gain the Presidency of the United States.

Capt. John McCain's Physical Courage

If your father had been a four-star admiral, and your grandfather a four-star admiral before him, you would probably enlist in the Navy with a pleasant vision of your future. Spending more than five years at the "Hanoi Hilton," as a P.O.W., wasn't it. The torturers' cruelties literally turned his hair white at the age of 36.

Capt. John McCain was only pressed, not broken, by five years of torment and despair. When he was finally released, he returned Stateside and assembled one of the remarkable political careers of our generation. He has also kept war heroism on TV in America, in front of the nation's eyes.

Supposing that you or I were pressed too far.  Supposing we decided that we were going to give up on our hopes, visions, and ambitions. Supposing that we were going to go to Sen. McCain and talk with him, saying, "We're giving up - and here is our excuse." Do you think he would sign off on our excuse?

Capt. McCain would speak of problems as a chance to show true strength. This is the type of strength that commands respect.