To Stigler, to kill them wouldn't only be unfair; it would be equal to murder, which was unacceptable for the German pilot who lived by the warrior code of honor. And so, he began to fly in formation with the bomber, tricking German anti-air crews below into thinking that it was one of their own captured B-17s. He did this until they reached the North Sea, at which point Stigler gave the grateful Americans one last salute and returned back to base. Brown eventually landed safely in Allied territory.

Forty years later, the two pilots were miraculously able to find each other and actually became the best of friends, calling each other brothers and even going on numerous fishing trips together. And all because in 1943, Stigler remembered the movie tagline-esque words of one of his commanding officers, who said, "You fight by rules to keep your humanity."

A few minutes later, however, Tonelli was surprised to see a Japanese officer walking toward him, ring in hand. The unnamed Japanese officer confirmed Tonelli's identity and then, in perfect English, went on to explain to him that he had attended USC and was an avid fan of American football. In fact, he had actually been present at the very same game during which Tonelli made his inspirational run because, dammit, this whole experience was so depressing, the least we could get out of it is a potential Hanks-Spielberg movie script.

YouTube
Both men also met their wives at the game, probably.

Since the Japanese officer knew how much it meant to Tonelli and was so impressed by his feat of athleticism, he decided to give the ring back. He warned Tonelli to hide it though as it was unlikely he would be there the next time someone tried to take it from him. Tonelli understood and kept the ring well hidden in a soap dish, only taking it out when he felt like giving up hope. Though he never saw the Japanese officer again, the ring ended up being Tonelli's main motivation to survive the next three years of hell, after which he was finally rescued, due in no small part to one unexpected, star-struck football fan.

And yet, when the Imperial Russian and German troops fighting in the Kovno-Wilna-Minsk region found themselves at the mercy of starved-out wolves during the winter of 1916-17, they instead turned the whole ordeal into an after-school special about how neat-o it is to put aside your differences and work together.

The wolves in question were reportedly larger and stronger than any other such animal the Germans or Russians had ever seen and withstood all attempts at keeping them at bay, including grenades, poison, and even machine guns. Regardless of how many wolves the soldiers seemed to kill, a new pack of equally vicious beasts would take their spot and wreak havoc, almost as if they were some werewolf-cockroach crossbreed.

Nikolai Sverchkov
Russia had already killed all the weak wolves, for fun.

So when it got to the point when both sides couldn't accomplish the objectives set out by their commanders, the Russians and Germans were given permission to sign a truce during which all fighting ceased. Instead of killing each other, the two sides channeled their inner Liam Neeson and went to kick some wolf ass together on a giant, German-Russian wolf hunt.

Now that all of their efforts were put toward eradicating this menace, the soldiers made progress by working arm in arm with guys they had just tried to kill a little while back. By the time they were done, hundreds of wolves had been killed, and the few that remained hightailed it out of there as fast as their four legs would let them. Like all good things though, the truce eventually came to an end, proving that the only thing it will apparently take to bring humanity together is the threat of a common, unstoppable enemy. Man, where is a real-life alien invasion when you need one?

In May 1945, toward the end of World War II, a company of the American 23rd Tank Battalion was tasked with securing Castle Itter in Austria and rescuing the high-profile French prisoners held therein. The company was led by the cigar-chomping, whiskey-drinking, all-American badass Lt. John C. "Jack" Lee Jr., who found himself taunting the Gods of Movie Cliches by going on one final big mission right before the war was about to end, which he was more than happy to oblige.

Stephen Harding/Norwich University
Before he left, for good measure, he smashed a mirror into 13 pieces. With his smile.

En route to the castle, the team came across their first obstacle when they ran into a group of Wehrmacht soldiers, or as Lee probably referred to them, target practice. To his disappointment, though, the Germans not only surrendered to the Americans, they outright joined them. Their leader, Major Josef Gangl, talked to Lee and immediately volunteered his soldiers to assist with the extraction of the French prisoners held in Castle Itter, even disarming a bridge bomb for the U.S. troops along the way. Now, it's important to note that Gangl was prooobably only doing this to earn some Brownie points with the Allies after realizing that he was wearing the wrong-colored uniform just as the war was wrapping up.

Nonetheless, Lee accepted his help and the alternative history buff's wet dream set out for the castle. Once there, however, they found A) the castle abandoned by the guards, and B) themselves in the crosshairs of the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division sent to the castle to kill the prisoners. Lee, his handful of men and one tank were now forced to defend the castle from one of the most elite German fighting groups ever. They also had to deal with Gangl's soldiers, who by then were already sharpening their bayonets to slit the Americans' throats when they weren't looking, right?

Clayton Tang/Wikimedia
Or at least adding a new "fun" room to the castle?

Wrong. Showing way more trustworthiness than you'd expect from a Nazi, Major Gangl and his men decided to uphold their commitment to the Americans and fought side by side with them. As the SS troops began pouring out of the woods trying to storm the castle's gates with machine guns and antitank rockets, the Wehrmacht unit quickly took up defensive positions and fired upon their fellow Germans. And when they ran out of bullets, they retreated to the castle keep, ready to fight bayonet to bayonet, hand to hand until the last man fell, simply because they had given their word.

Thankfully, just as the attackers readied for the final push into the castle, an American relief force arrived and eliminated the remaining SS. When the smoke cleared, several Wehrmacht soldiers were dead, including Major Gangl himself. Hey, if doing the right thing didn't come with some risk, we wouldn't make such a big deal out of it. Still, we should finish this up on one with a happier ending ...