Memorial Day and Hollywood
Memorial Day and Hollywood
Memorial Day and Hollywood#0
Posted: 5/24/06 at 11:15am
Next time someone throws in your face that people in Hollywood/Theater etc do not care about America....throw this back at them:
This page lists but a few, but from this group of only 18 men came over 70 medals in honor of their valor, spanning from Bronze Stars, Silver Stars, Distinguish Service Cross, Purple Hearts and one Congressional Medal of Honor.
Most of these brave men have since passed on.
Real Hollywood Heroes
Sir Alec Guinness (Star Wars~Bridge over the River Kwai) operated a British Royal Navy landing craft on D-Day.
James Doohan ("Scotty" on Star Trek) landed in Normandy with the U. S. Army on D-Day.
Donald Pleasance (The Great Escape) really was an R. A. F. pilot who was shot down, held prisoner and tortured by the Germans.
David Niven was a Sandhurst graduate and Lt. Colonel of the British Commandos in Normandy.
James Stewart Entered the Army Air Force as a private and worked his way to the rank of Colonel.
During World War II, Stewart served as a bomber pilot, his service record crediting him with leading more than 20 missions over Germany, and taking part in hundreds of air strikes during his tour of duty.
Stewart earned the Air Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross, France's Croix de Guerre, and 7 Battle Stars during World War II.
In peace time, Stewart continued to be an active member of the Air Force as a reservist, reaching the rank of Brigadier General before retiring in the late 1950's.
Clark Gable (Mega-Movie Star when war broke out) Although he was beyond the draft age at the time the U.S. entered WW II,
Clark Gable enlisted as a private in the AAF on Aug. 12, 1942 at Los Angeles.
He attended the Officers' Candidate School at Miami Beach, Fla. and graduated as a second lieutenant on Oct. 28, 1942. He then attended aerial gunnery school and in Feb. 1943 he was assigned to the 351st Bomb Group at Polebrook where he flew operational missions over Europe in B-17s.
Capt. Gable returned to the U.S. in Oct. 1943 and was relieved from active duty as a major on Jun. 12, 1944 at his own request, since he was over-age for combat.
Charlton Heston was an Army Air Corps Sergeant in Kodiak, Alaska.
Earnest Borgnine was a U. S. Navy Gunners Mate 1935-1945.
Charles Durning was a U. S. Army Ranger at Normandy earning a Silver Star and awarded the Purple Heart.
Charles Bronson was a tail gunner in the Army Air Corps, more specifically on B-29s in the 20th Air Force out of Guam, Tinian, and Saipan.
George C. Scott was a decorated U. S. Marine.
Eddie Albert (Green Acres TV) was awarded a Bronze Star for his heroic action as a U. S. Naval officer aiding Marines at the horrific battle on the island of Tarawa in the Pacific Nov. 1943.
Brian Keith served as a U.S. Marine rear gunner in several actions against the Japanese on Rabal in the Pacific.
Lee Marvin was a U.S. Marine on Saipan during the Marianas campaign when he was wounded earning the Purple Heart.
John Russell: In 1942, he enlisted in the Marine Corps where he received a battlefield commission and was wounded and highly decorated for valor at Guadalcanal.
Robert Ryan was a U. S. Marine who served with the O. S. S. in Yugoslavia.
Tyrone Power (an established movie star when Pearl Harbor was bombed) joined the U.S. Marines, was a pilot flying supplies into, and wounded Marines out of, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
Audie Murphy, little 5'5" tall 110 pound guy from Bay City, Texas who played cowboy parts?
Most decorated serviceman of WWII and earned: Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross, 2 Silver Star Medals, Legion of Merit, 2 Bronze Star Medals with "V", 2 Purple Hearts, U.S. Army Outstanding Civilian Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal, 2 Distinguished Unit Emblems, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with One Silver Star, Four Bronze Service Stars (representing nine campaigns) and one Bronze Arrowhead (representing assault landing at Sicily and Southern France) World War II Victory Medal Army of Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, Combat Infantry Badge, Marksman Badge with Rifle Bar, Expert Badge with Bayonet Bar, French Fourragere in Colors of the Croix de Guerre, French Legion of Honor, Grade of Chevalier, French Croix de Guerre With Silver Star, French Croix de Guerre with Palm, Medal of Liberated France, Belgian Croix de Guerre 1940 Palm.
re: Memorial Day and Hollywood#1
Posted: 5/24/06 at 4:11pmWhat about Elvis Presley? I don't know too much about his Army career. Was he actually in combat?
re: Memorial Day and Hollywood#2
Posted: 5/24/06 at 4:16pm
Next time someone throws in your face that people in Hollywood/Theater etc do not care about America....throw this back at them
Wouldn't more current examples be a better arguement, though?
re: Memorial Day and Hollywood#3
Posted: 5/28/06 at 1:45pm
Not at all Kringas. WW2 was the defining war in American History since WW1, it is fitting that they be from that era.
also...Elvis was in Germany during peacetime, new, hence he wasn't listed
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/12/04
re: Memorial Day and Hollywood#4
Posted: 5/28/06 at 4:48pm
Actually, I kind of agree with Kringas. The world was very different then... Current examples would bear much more weight, and I can't think of any.
Edited to add: I don't mean to imply that that means today's actors don't care about America. Just that they're not particularly interested in military service.
Updated On: 5/28/06 at 04:48 PM
re: Memorial Day and Hollywood#5
Posted: 5/28/06 at 5:05pmthe difference erika is that had we lost WW1 or WW2 we could currently be under German rule. Any war since, even if we lost (and we lost Vietnam, we would not be under foreign rule......that is why the older wars are more important.
re: Memorial Day and Hollywood#6
Posted: 5/28/06 at 5:15pmHow about a list of those currently in the Bush administration who served? Your list will be empty since they did not yet they are sending others off to war. Perhaps their sons and daughters should sign up and go fight their father's war?
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/12/04
re: Memorial Day and Hollywood#7
Posted: 5/28/06 at 6:15pmElphaba - I wasn't debating which war was more important. I just think your list is so old that it would do nothing to convince anyone to change their opinion about Hollywood.
re: Memorial Day and Hollywood#8
Posted: 5/28/06 at 8:26pmwe'll have to just agree to disagree
re: Memorial Day and Hollywood#9
Posted: 5/29/06 at 10:30am
Thanks for posting that list, Elphaba.
Anji and I were watching baseball on Saturday and they had an opening montage talking about players like Williams and DiMaggio going to serve. It's hard to imagine celebrities/pro atheletes nowadays helping out in that way.
It is a very nice reminder of a time where a sense of Patriotism comes before personal agenda.
re: Memorial Day and Hollywood#10
Posted: 5/29/06 at 10:32am
well Patronus it might also be because they were in real wars, and not a made up one......
and jimny, please do not threadjack. I hate Bush too, but this thread is NOT about him
re: Memorial Day and Hollywood#11
Posted: 5/29/06 at 10:35am
I had this in my original post:
"Of course the reasoning behind wars back then were actually just, so perhaps my perspective is slightly skewed to (and by) the "right".
I decided to take it out in order to avoid "threadjacking", but yeah, I agree completely.
re: Memorial Day and Hollywood#12
Posted: 5/29/06 at 1:26pmNone from Viet Nam...or the Gulf War...
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re: Memorial Day and Hollywood#13
Posted: 5/29/06 at 1:27pm
None from Korean?
Viet Nam?
the Gulf War?
A different generation of patriots?
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re: Memorial Day and Hollywood#14
Posted: 5/29/06 at 1:30pm
American Notables Who Served in the Military
During the Korean War - edited for entertainers only
Blocker, Dan - played the character "Hoss" on TV show, Bonanza
Cosby, Bill - comedian; Navy corpsman
Garner, James - Actor; Army veteran of Korean War; received Purple Heart
Ho, Don -
"Tiny Bubbles" star Don Ho flew C-97 transports
Kaye, Darwood "Waldo" - (1929-2002), starred in 21 "Our Gang" movies as Waldo. He enlisted in the US Army, spending one and a half years in the service, mostly in Korea
McMahon, Ed - former Tonight Show personality; 85 missions in Korea
Minter, Iverson "Louisiana Red", renown blues musician. He was initially trained with the 82nd airborne as a parachutist and he went to Korea in 1951. The 82nd airborne didn't go there as a complete unit, only some of soldiers were dispatched and became rangers in 2nd, 3rd and 7th Infantry Division. Red said he was assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division.
Full List
Updated On: 5/29/06 at 01:30 PM
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