| I can only send this to people our age, (well close to our age) since most of today’s people don’t have any idea who these Men were and that’s a pity.George Gobel comedian, Army Air Corps, taught fighter pilots
Johnny Carson made a big deal about it once on the Tonight Show, to which George said “the Japs didn’t get past us.
| Sterling Hayden , US Marines and OSS . Smuggled guns into Yugoslavia and parachuted into Croatia . Silver Star. |
James Stewart , US Army Air Corps. Bomber pilot who rose to the rank of General.
Ernest Borgnine , US Navy. Gunners Mate 1c, destroyer USS Lamberton. 10 years active duty. Discharged 1941, re-enlisted after Pearl Harbor .
Ed McMahon , US Marines. Fighter Pilot. (Flew OE-1 Bird Dogs over Korea as well.)
Telly Savalas , US Army.
Walter Matthau , US Army Air Corps., B-24 Radioman/Gunner and cryptographer.
Steve Forrest , US Army. Wounded, Battle of the Bulge.
Jonathan Winters , USMC. Battleship USS Wisconsin and Carrier USS Bon Homme Richard. Anti-aircraft gunner, Battle of Okinawa.
Paul Newman , US Navy Rear seat gunner/radsioman, torpedo bombers of USS Bunker Hill.
Kirk Douglas , US Navy. Sub-chaser in the Pacific. Wounded in action and medically discharged.
Robert Mitchum , US Army.
Dale Robertson , US Army. Tank Commander in North Africa under Patton. Wounded twice. Battlefield Commission.
Henry Fonda , US Navy. Destroyer USS Satterlee.
John Carroll , US Army Air Corps. Pilot in North Africa . Broke his back in a crash.
Lee Marvin US Marines. Sniper. Wounded in action on Saipan . Buried in Arlington National Cemetery , Sec. 7A next to Greg Boyington and Joe Louis.
Art Carney , US Army. Wounded on Normandy beach, D-Day. Limped for the rest of his life.
Wayne Morris , US Navy fighter pilot, USS Essex. Downed seven Japanese fighters.
Rod Steiger , US Navy. Was aboard one of the ships that launched the Doolittle Raid.
Tony Curtis , US Navy. Sub tender USS Proteus. In Tokyo Bay for the surrender of Japan .
Larry Storch . US Navy. Sub tender USS Proteus with Tony Curtis.
Forrest Tucker , US Army. Enlisted as a private, rose to Lieutenant.
Robert Montgomery , US Navy.
George Kennedy , US Army. Enlisted after Pearl Harbor , stayed in sixteen years.
Mickey Rooney , US Army under Patton. Bronze Star.
Denver Pyle , US Navy. Wounded in the Battle of Guadalcanal . Medically discharged.
Burgess Meredith , US Army Air Corps.
DeForest Kelley , US Army Air Corps.
Robert Stack , US Navy. Gunnery Officer.
Neville Brand , US Army, Europe . Was awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart.
Tyrone Power , US Marines. Transport pilot in the Pacific Theater.
Charlton Heston, US Army Air Corps. Radio operator and aerial gunner on a B-25, Aleutians .
Danny Aiello , US Army. Lied about his age to enlist at 16. Served three years.
James Arness , US Army. As an infantryman, he was severely wounded at Anzio , Italy .
Efram Zimbalist, Jr ., US Army. Purple Heart for a severe wound received at Huertgen Forest .
Mickey Spillane , US Army Air Corps, Fighter Pilot and later Instructor Pilot.
Rod Serling . US Army. 11th Airborne Division in the Pacific. He jumped at Tagaytay in the Philippines and was later wounded in Manila .
Gene Autry , US Army Air Corps. Crewman on transports that ferried supplies over “The Hump” in the China-
Burma-India Theater.
Wiliam Holden , US Army Air Corps.
Alan Hale Jr , US Coast Guard.
Harry Dean Stanton , US Navy. Battle of Okinawa .
Russell Johnson , US Army Air Corps. B-24 crewman who was awarded Purple Heart when his aircraft was shot down by the Japanese in the Philippines .
William Conrad , US Army Air Corps. Fighter Pilot.
Jack Klugman , US Army.
Frank Sutton , US Army. Took part in 14 assault landings, including Leyte, Luzon, Bataan and Corregidor .
Jackie Coogan , US Army Air Corps. Volunteered for gliders and flew troops and materials into Burma behind enemy lines.
Tom Bosley , US Navy.
Claude Akins , US Army. Signal Corps. , Burma and the Philippines .
Chuck Connors , US Army. Tank-warfare instructor.
Harry Carey Jr ., US Navy.
Mel Brooks , US Army. Combat Engineer. Saw action in the Battle of the Bulge.
Robert Altman , US Army Air Corps. B-24 Co-Pilot.
Pat Hingle , US Navy. Destroyer USS Marshall
Fred Gwynne , US Navy. Radioman.
Karl Malden , US Army Air Corps. 8th Air Force, NCO.
Earl Holliman . US Navy. Lied about his age to enlist. Discharged after a year when the Navy found out.
Rock Hudson , US Navy. Aircraft mechanic, the Philippines .
Harvey Korman , US Navy.
Aldo Ray . US Navy. UDT frogman, Okinawa .
Don Knotts , US Army, Pacific Theater.
Don Rickles , US Navy aboard USS Cyrene.
Harry Dean Stanton , US Navy. Served aboard an LST in the Battle of Okinawa .
Robert Stack , US Navy. Gunnery Instructor.
Soupy Sales , US Navy. Served on USS Randall in the South Pacific.
Lee Van Cleef , US Navy. Served aboard a sub chaser then a mine sweeper.
Clifton James , US Army, South Pacific. Was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart.
Ted Knight , US Army, Combat Engineers.
Jack Warden , US Navy, 1938-1942, then US Army, 1942-1945. 101st Airborne Division.
Don Adams . US Marines. Wounded on Guadalcanal , then served as a Drill Instructor.
James Gregory , US Navy and US Marines.
Brian Keith , US Marines. Radioman/Gunner in Dauntless dive-bombers.
Fess Parker , US Navy and US Marines. Booted from pilot training for being too tall, joined Marines as a radio operator.
Charles Durning . US Army. Landed at Normandy on D-Day. Shot multiple times. Awarded the Silver Star and Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts. Survived Malmedy Massacre.
Raymond Burr , US Navy. Shot in the stomach on Okinawa and medically discharged.
Hugh O’Brian , US Marines.
Robert Ryan , US Marines.
Eddie Albert , US Coast Guard. Bronze Star with Combat V for saving several Marines under heavy fire as pilot of a landing craft during the invasion of Tarawa .
Cark Gable , US Army Air Corps. B-17 gunner over Europe .
Charles Bronson , US Army Air Corps. B-29 gunner, wounded in action.
Peter Graves , US Army Air Corps.
Buddy Hackett , US Army anti-aircraft gunner.
Victor Mature , US Coast Guard.
Jack Palance , US Army Air Corps. Severely injured bailing out of a burning B-24 bomber.
Robert Preston , US Army Air Corps. Intelligence Officer
Cesar Romero , US Coast Guard. Coast Guard. Participated in the invasions of Tinian and Saipan on the assault transport USS Cavalier.
Norman Fell , US Army Air Corps., Tail Gunner, Pacific Theater.
Jason Robards , US Navy. was aboard heavy cruiser USS Northampton when it was sunk off Guadalcanal . Also served on the USS Nashville during the invasion of the Philippines , surviving a kamikaze hit that caused 223 casualties.
Steve Reeves, US Army , Philippines .
Dennis Weaver , US Navy. Pilot.
Robert Taylor , US Navy. Instructor Pilot.
Randolph Scott . Tried to enlist in the Marines but was rejected due to injuries sustained in US Army, World War 1.
Ronald Reagan . US Army. Was a 2nd Lt. in the Cavalry Reserves before the war. His poor eyesight kept him from being sent overseas with his unit when war came so he transferred to the Army Air Corps Public Relations Unit where he served for the duration.
John Wayne. Declared “4F medically unfit” due to pre-existing injuries, he nonetheless attempted to volunteer three times (Army, Navy and Film Corps.) so he gets honorable mention.
And of course we have Audie Murphy , America ‘s most-decorated soldier, who became a Hollywood star as a result of his US Army service that included his being awarded the Medal of Honor.
Would someone please remind me again how many of today’s Hollywood elite, sports celebs and politicians put their careers on hold to enlist for service in Iraq or Afghanistan ?
The only one who even comes close was Pat Tillman, who turned down a contract offer of $3.6 million over three years from the Arizona Cardinals to enlist in the US Army after September, 11, 2001 and serve as a Ranger in Afghanistan , where he died in 2004.
But rather than being lauded for his choice and his decision to put his country before his career, he was mocked and derided by many of his peers.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I submit to you that this is not the America today that it was seventy years ago. And I, for one, am saddened.
My generation grew up watching, being entertained by and laughing with so many of these fine people, never really knowing what they contributed to the war effort. Like millions of Americans during the WWII, there was a job that needed doing they didn’t question, they went and did it, those that came home returned to their now new normal life and carried on, very few ever saying what they did or saw. They took it as their “responsibility”, their “duty” to Country, to protect and preserve our freedoms and way of life, not just for themselves but for all future generations to come. As a member of that “First” generation, I’m forever humbly in their debt. |
Cathy
Truth Prevailing
Publius Huldah
Freedom Rider
kathleen
radioroger2015
Steve
Being of that generation, it makes me want to cry on seeing all those familiar names. How unbelievably has everything changed in our country today, and those men would not want to be here to see what has happened to America.
They would never believe how ignorant the people have been to allow it to
come to this point.of ruin. I’m here and I still can’t believe it either.
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So very true Bobbie
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Thank you for the walk down memory lane. We did not have a TV when I was growing up so I did not start watching TV until I was nineteen. Therefore there were a number of names I did not recognize. However, those I did recognize played wonderful characters in their movies and shows and even the ‘bad guys’ were ever the gentlemen. Can you just imagine Miley Cyrus or Justin Beiber being in the service? Oh my oh my!!!
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Not a chance MA
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The ‘Tonight Show’ episode in which George Gobel explained his service as a pilot instructor in WWII is well known (it was broadcast in May, 1969). Actually, when the audience laughed when he mentioned his stateside service, he said, “Go ahead and laugh, but if you’ll recall, not one Japanese plan got east of Omaha”. It was the same show where Bob Hope and Dean Martin sat to his right, and Dean Martin kept flicking ashes from his cigarette into Gobel’s drink every time he would look away. It was a coffee cup, but he wasn’t drinking coffee that night…..
With reference to Pat Tillman, the saddest part concerning his death is that he was shot by an American soldier.
James Stewart rose from private to full colonel in WWII, and was promoted to brigadier general in the early 1960s, and retired at that rank. He would have been promoted in 1959, but was passed over in favor of a staff member of Sen. Margaret Chase Smith. He was also up for the star, and had an obvious political connection.
Ed McMahon retired as a full colonel from the Marine Corps reserve.
Hugh O’Brien was the youngest drill instructor in USMC at age 18.
Johnny Carson served briefly as an ensign at the end of the war.
Clark Gable enlisted in the USAAF, after turning down an offer of a direct commission. Never spent a day in basic training, going immediately into Officer Candidate School. Although a commissioned officer, he received training in aerial gunnery, and actually flew on a few missions as a gunner, against orders, as the Germans had put a price on his head.
Jackie Cooper (“Our Gang” films, and later on TV) served as an enlisted man in the Navy.
If you ever happen to watch the 1943 film version of “This Is The Army”, you will see many familiar faces in the cast, including Hayden Rorke (Dr. Bellows of “I Dream Of Jeannie”), who were serving in the military at the time.
A post like this one is all you need to know about how far America has fallen in such a short time. Thank you, CZ.
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Thank you for that wonderful comment. I remember well the Carson show, and the ashes in his drink, ugh. I laughed and laughed. Boy, those were the good old days weren’t they? Even Jay Leno never measured up to Johnny and Ed. How I miss them.
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CZ, great post. I call that the days when Man/Woman wore pants. How sad no one wears pants. What a great list.
Speaking of military have you seen what skippy has done with the oath of citizenship? He has changed it by stripping out the requirement of defending the United States through military service.
It will now say.
“-May be eligible for modifications based on religious training and belief, or conscientious objection arising from a deeply held moral or ethical code.
-Is not required to belong to a specific church or religion, follow a particular theology or belief, or to have had religious training in order to qualify.
-May submit, but is not required to provide, an attestation from a religious or other type of organization, as well as other evidence to establish eligibility.”
There’s always been an exemption for Religious grounds, but a
non-combatant support role was always worked out. Now in a draft or something people(muzzies/any scum from any where ) can just tell us to kiss our ass.
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2015/07/22/obama-administration-strips-requirement-to-defend-the-united-states-from-citizenship-oath-n2028889
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Yep, I posted this, but can’t remember when it’s coming up
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