I wanna open this new topic with this famous Italian guy....  Enrico
Toti

Enrico Toti (born Rome 20 August 1882, died Monfalcone 6 August 1916)
was an Italian deportist, patriot and hero of World War I.
Enrico lost his left leg while working for Italian railways, at the
age of 24. After his injury he became a cyclist. In 1911, riding on a
bicycle with one leg, first reached Paris, and then through Belgium,
Holland and Denmark, up to Finland and Lapland. From there, via Russia
and Poland, he returned to Italy in June 1912. In January 1913 Toti
started cycling again, this time in Egypt; from Alexandria, he reached
the border with Sudan where the English authorities, considering the
trail too dangerous, ordered him to end the journey, and sent him to
Cairo where he came back to Italy. When war broke out between Italy
and the Austrian Empire, Toti tried to volunteered for the Italian
army but was not accepted due to his injury. Undaunted, he then
reached the frontline with his bicycle and managed to serve as an
unpaid, unregistred, fully not-regulation "civilian volunteer"
attached to several unit. Forced to leave the combat zone and return
home by the Carabinieri (Military Police), Toti stubbornly returned to
the front and finally managed to join (still not-officially) the 3rd
Bersaglieri Bicycle Battalion. He was killed in the Sixth Battle of
the Isonzo. Fatally wounded in a clash, he hurled his crutch at the
enemy. He was posthumously awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valor
(Italy's highest award for valour), one of the relatively few
civilians to be bestowed by this honour.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrico_Toti]

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