no kidding. A lot of the utes won’t recognize most of these, but the geezers will. Got this from my MCL. I haven’t chased down the accuracy.
George Gobel comedian, Army Air Corps,
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.captain and trainer
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.pilot
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.
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.
Clark 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.pilot 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 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 training and teaching .
John Wayne. Declared “4F medically unfit” due to pre-existing back injuries, he nonetheless attempted to volunteer three times (Army, Navy and Film Corps.) joined the fighting CB’s the army building corps roads etc. so he gets honorable mention and thank you.
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.
I can add another;
Dan Blocker (Hoss Cartwright) - 45th Inf.Div. US Army - Korea 1951-2 - Purple Heart
My Dad commanded his Battalion - He was already a BIG Guy then.
Correction to the John Wayne entry - almost all wrong.
At start of war he was 34 (overage) and sole support of a family of 4 - Draft Status 3-A
His contracted Studio, Republic, threatened contract breech and requested draft deferment from Gov.
He did multiple Hollywood Star / War Bond raising tours.
He volunteered for OSS and was accepted but mail went to an old address. OSS did say he served(?)
Sadly, those in Hollywood used to love America.
What is amazing is that a few of them LIED about their age just to enlist and serve their country. God Bless them.
I don’t see Steve McQueen:
After drifting from job to job, he decided to join the Marines in 1947. He was promoted to Private First Class and served with an armored unit, but he was demoted back to private seven times. His rebellious nature came to a head when he let a weekend pass turn into a two week tryst with his girlfriend. Shore patrol apprehended him, but he resisted and spent 41 days in the brig; the first 21 were spent living off of bread and water.
His time in the brig served to reform as he attempted to improve himself and embody Marine values. Later on his unit was performing a training exercise in the Arctic which turned disastrous. The ship McQueen, his unit, and their tanks had boarded hit a sandbank which threw several tanks and their crews into the water. Many drowned immediately, unable to get out of their tanks, but McQueen jumped in and saved the lives of five men.
In recognition of his actions, McQueen was chosen to partake in the Honor Guard protecting Harry S. Truman’s yacht. McQueen stayed with the Marines until 1950 when he was honorably discharged. “The Marines gave me discipline I could live with. By the time I got out, I could deal with things on a more realistic level. All in all, despite my problems, I liked my time in the Marines,” McQueen said.