Harold Russell joined the US Army after the attack on Pearl Harbor and while training paratroopers lost both hands in an accidental explosion. Russell went on to make training films when director William Wyler saw him and cast him for THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES ('46). | Turner Classic Movies: TCM

On D-Day, June 6, 1944, Army paratrooper Harold Russell lost both hands in a training accident. At 30, his future seemed over. He chose functional steel hooks over cosmetic hands—and rebuilt his life. A rehab film led director William Wyler to cast him in The Best Years of Our Lives, where Russell didn’t act—he told the truth about fear, love, and returning home wounded. In 1947, he made history by winning two Oscars in one night for the same role. Russell proved that disability isn’t weakness—a