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Harry Bedford
Colonel Harry E. Bedford
"Every bullet fired, every mortar shell dropped, every enemy killed. All of it had to be done." note
An experienced US Army paratrooper who did and saw it all during WWII.- The Ace: A skilled and decorated officer who would almost certainly have risen high had the Norden incident not interrupted his career.
- Actually Pretty Funny: In Chapter 3, he cracks up at Suki when she panics at the disembodied voice blaring from his radio.
- Ambadassador: Serves as the AEU's representative to Kyoshi Island, and is appointed again in Chapter 21 to lead the upcoming mission to the court of the Earth King.
- Authority Equals Asskicking: Takes it upon himself to lead from the front when needed, personally commanding his own four-man fireteam at Kyoshi Island. During the Battle of the Bulge, he even led the charge in his battalion's six-day counterattack.
- Hidden Depths: He's more sensitive and a bit earthier in behavior than he cares to show in front of his men. That side of his only tends to come out when alone with Carwell.
- It's Raining Men: The commander of a parachute battalion with four combat jumps under his belt.
- Platonic Life-Partners: With Peter Carwell, the only person he's on First-Name Basis with. They've been friends with since their West Point days, and were posted together in colonial Manila as newly-commissioned lieutenants.
- The Teetotaler: Doesn't drink or smoke, though not for any moral reasons. He gave his vices up to be able to keep up with his men, who are for the most part at least a decade younger than him.
Peter Carwell
Lieutenant Colonel Peter Carwell
- "Do you know how many people you've killed? For me, the tally's a hundred and thirty-eight. Twenty-three of them today."
A genial US Army Ranger and a deadly marksman who fought as a commando in the latter stages of WWII.
- Boom, Headshot!: Takes out at least two Fire Nation soldiers this way during the Battle of Kyoshi Island, including their force commander Zhang Min.
- Colonel Badass: His shadowy, proto-special forces past includes scaling two-hundred foot cliffs to take out German artillery on D-Day, training Dutch resistance fighters, and going deep behind enemy lines to assassinate senior German officers late in the war.
- Deuteragonist: Has the largest chunk of "screentime" other than Bedford.
- Friendly Sniper: An unfailingly polite and good-natured Southern Gentleman. It doesn't stop him from calmly picking off any enemy soldier in his sights.
