Posted on 01/28/2015 11:58:11 AM PST by navysealdad
I remember them. Great Americans.
Movies were a big part of our lives in the 40s.
And we were more than just US citizens - we were Americans. - Tom
They were a different breed for sure.
WW2 was before my time, but yes, I know of each and every name on that list. In fact, I’ve even met four or five of them, over the years.
I actually know/knew more than half the people on this list, I am going to visit Kirk Douglas tomorrow, and you are absolutely right. These were Real Men and most of them were pretty down to earth nice guys in real life. Todays hollywood weenies couldn’t carry the water for these fine Americans.
Ronald Reagan was the Adjutant (personnel officer) of the First Motion Picture Unit. General Hap Arnold of the U.S. Army Air Corps caused the unit to be formed. They produced hundreds of training, recruiting and propaganda films.
One of the bits of trivia that stayed with me is in that pre-computer age they built an enormous terrain table that duplicated parts of the Japanese home islands. They then used a boom system to guide cameras to make films of runs that Air Force pilots would make for bombing and strafing in the invasion of Japan.
Thank you very much for posting this reminder representative of The Greatest Generation.
Seeing this improved my mood in a Memorial - Veteran’s Day tribute way.
I’d like all of these gentlemen’s names visible for thread posterity.
Thanks again!
Of course.
Thank you and your son, Navysealdad
From a Coast Guard father.
DO YOU REMEMBER THESE MEN?
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 194, 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/radioman, 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.
William 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, 1 938-1942, then US Army, 1 942-1945. 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.
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My Dad's shipmate.
Most of them did not make a big deal about their service, either. Di you know that John Kerry served in Viet Nam? s/
Back when people could act and Hollyweird kept their private lives and opinions private.
Ted Williams, Yogi Berra, Ed Wood, ...
What a great list. The only omissions: those men who served in the merchant marine. The merchant marines had casualty rates just below the marines.
I believe Peter Falk was in the merchant marine as was Jack Lord.
I am only 56 come March but I have heard of 75% of these people. I truly get choked up over post such as these.
Like I told my mom yesterday that if the greatest generation could see what is left of the America that once was they would cry.
Personally I think we owe it to them to take up arms and take America back before it is to late.
I am ready.
These were the people that were on every TV show (reruns and new), and Saturday afternoon movie when I was a kid in the 80s.
I know them better than the people that are considered stars today. At least you know you weren’t going to see gay kissing or vulgarity when they were on screen.
I am only 56 come March but I have heard of 75% of these people. I truly get choked up over post such as these.
Like I told my mom yesterday that if the greatest generation could see what is left of the America that once was they would cry.
Personally I think we owe it to them to take up arms and take America back before it is to late.
I am ready.
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