Star Treks Scotty was one of the thousands of brave men to fight on this day 70 years ago. (trivia)

History ^ | 6/6/2014 | http://www.freerepublic.com

[Dallas59]

At the beginning of the Second World War, Doohan joined the Royal Canadian Artillery. He was commissioned a lieutenant in the 13th Field Artillery Regiment of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division. Doohan went to England in 1940 for training. His first combat was the invasion of Normandy at Juno Beach on D-Day. Shooting two snipers, Doohan led his men to higher ground through a field of anti-tank mines, where they took defensive positions for the night. Crossing between command posts at 11:30 that night, Doohan was hit by six rounds fired from a Bren gun by a nervous Canadian sentry: four in his leg, one in the chest, and one through his right middle finger. The bullet to his chest was stopped by a silver cigarette case given to him by his brother. His right middle finger had to be amputated, something he would conceal during his career as an actor.

Doohan trained as a pilot (graduating from Air Observation Pilot Course 40 with 11 other Canadian artillery officers), and flew Taylorcraft Auster Mark V aircraft for 666 (AOP) Squadron, RCAF, as a Royal Canadian Artillery officer in support of 1st Army Group Royal Canadian Artillery. All three Canadian (AOP) RCAF Squadrons were manned by Artillery Officer-pilots and accompanied by non-commissioned RCA and RCAF personnel serving as observers.

Although never actually a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force, Doohan was once labelled the "craziest pilot in the Canadian Air Force". A story from his flying years tells of Doohan slaloming a plane—variously cited as a Hurricane or a jet trainer—between mountainside telegraph poles to prove it could be done, which earned him a serious reprimand. (The actual feat was performed in a Mark IV Auster on Salisbury Plain north of RAF Andover in the late spring of 1945).

[minnesota_bound]

If Scotty only had a phaser....

[AJFavish]

I didn’t know that he gave the Nazis the finger. RIP with the other heroes.

[minnesota_bound]

I thought a tribble had bitten him.

[mware]

Julia Child (1912-2004). After Pearl Harbor she tried to join the Navy but was rejected as too tall. She joined the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) instead and began her WWII career in Washington working directly for Gen William J. “Wild Bill” Donovan, the OSS chief. In 1944 she was posted to Kandy, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) where she handled highly classified communications for the OSS’s clandestine stations in Asia, and where she met her future husband, a high-ranking OSS cartographer. She was later posted to China where she received the Emblem of Meritorious Civilian Service as head of the Registry of the OSS Secretariat.

[dfwgator]

J.D Salinger — The author of The Catcher in the Rye stormed Utah Beach on D-Day, according to Biography.com. In fact, Salinger biographer Shane Salerno told NPR that Salinger “was carrying six chapters of The Catcher in the Rye when he landed on D-Day.” The completed book would later go on to sell 65 million copies.

Yogi Berra — The Major League Baseball catcher, manager, and Hall of Fame member was Seaman 1st class Lawrence Berra on June 6, 1944. NBC News reports Berra “helped soften up German defenses and ran messages from Omaha Beach to Utah Beach” on that historic day.

Alec Guinness — Decades before playing Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars, Guinness served in the Royal Navy. According to the book Duty, Honor, Applause: America’s Entertainers in World War II, Guinness was piloting a landing craft on D-Day that ferried British troops to the beaches of Normandy.

[Biggirl]

I thank Scotty for his service!

[abishai]

Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. came ashore with a cane and a pistol at Utah Beach. He was the only general to lead his troops ashore by sea. They landed a mile away from where they should have been. He found the right place and said, “We’ll start the war from right here!”

[minnesota_bound]

I read a Star Trek book from one of the writers who said Gene Roddenberry tried convincing at the time his then girlfriend Majel Barrett to have a threesome with Nichelle Nichols.

[abishai]

He was the only general to lead his troops ashore by sea.

That is, in the FIRST WAVE of troops, sorry.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Dallas59.

[AppyPappy]

And promptly died of a heart attack

[Las Vegas Dave]

Of possible interest pings!

[Las Vegas Dave]

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001150/

James Doohan was born on March 3, 1920 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada as James Montgomery Doohan. He is known for his work on Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), Star Trek (1966) and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986). He was married to Wende Doohan, Anita Yagel and Janet Young. He died on July 20, 2005 in Redmond, Washington, USA.

[X Fretensis]

He also survived the Malmady massacre.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Scotty beams up, comes down;

http://www.foxnews.com/story/2007/05/21/james-scotty-doohan-ashes-found-in-new-mexico-mountains/

Second times the charm;

http://www.treknews.net/2012/05/22/james-doohan-ashes-final-frontier-spacex-rocket/