9/24 Levin list of actors who were in the Armed Forces?

[West Texas Chuck]

He had a list of people I remembered. I had no idea about some of them, a lot oh yeah, I mean I know about Audie Murphy, but some of those were quite unexpected. I actually teared up a couple of times from old memories not seen since at least the early 70s.

I need a link people.

And I had no idea Lee Marvin was in Arlington, She Who Must Be Obeyed and I would have paid him some respect the way we did that Texas boy, when we were up yonder.

[broken_clock]

Also, Clark Gable was a pilot in the Army Air Force.

[octex]

Thank you so much for taking the time to post all of those photos in #33!

I was born about 9 months after Pearl Harbor and grew up watching those guys in movies and later on TV.

[Moonman62]

From Wiki:

America’s entry into World War II resulted in a deluge of support for the war effort from all sectors of society, and Hollywood was no exception. Wayne was exempted from service due to his age (34 at the time of Pearl Harbor) and family status, classified as 3-A (family deferment). He repeatedly wrote John Ford saying he wanted to enlist, on one occasion inquiring whether he could get into Ford’s military unit, but consistently kept postponing it until after “he finished just one or two pictures”.[4]:212 Wayne did not attempt to prevent his reclassification as 1-A (draft eligible), but Republic Studios was emphatically resistant to losing him; Herbert J. Yates, President of Republic, threatened Wayne with a lawsuit if he walked away from his contract,[4]:220 and Republic Pictures intervened in the Selective Service process, requesting Wayne’s further deferment.[4]:213

Wayne toured U.S. bases and hospitals in the South Pacific for three months in 1943 and 1944.[4]:253 with the USO[27][28][29] By many accounts, Wayne’s failure to serve in the military was the most painful experience of his life.[4]:212 His widow later suggested that his patriotism in later decades sprang from guilt, writing: “He would become a ‘superpatriot’ for the rest of his life trying to atone for staying home.”[30]

U.S. National Archives records indicate that Wayne had, in fact, made an application [31] to serve in the OSS, today’s equivalent of the CIA, and had been accepted within the U.S. Army’s allotted billet to the OSS. William Donovan, OSS Commander, wrote Wayne a letter informing him of his acceptance in to the Field Photographic Unit, but the letter went to his estranged wife Josephine’s home. She never told him about it.[32] Donovan also issued an OSS Certificate of Service to Wayne.[33]

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

Tail gunner on B25s in the south pacific.

[rktman]

Thanks a bunch. Had forgotten some of them. Reminds me of the current flock of stars that have volunteered to serve in one of the armed forces after 9/11. Oh, never mind. Mostly pansies that act tough on screen.

[BlackElk]

Back injury sustained while surfing and it ended his college football career at UCLA, Never fully recovered IIRC.

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

Jimmy Stewart lost his son,a Marine F-4 pilot, in Vietnam.IIRC it was 65 or 66.

[laplata]

Thanks.

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

I believe he was a gunnery officer in the 303rd bomb group in England during the war.He did fly combat missions and the Nazis had a bounty on him if he was captured.Grounded as it would have been bad for the war effort.Jimmy Stewart had the same thing happen to him flying B-24s out of England.There is a really neat story of him as he was pulled of combat flying and was allowed to fly only a pokadotted formation ship(B24).The story goes that too many b-24s dropped out of the mission due to one thing or another so he flew the mission to help fill in one of the positions in a combat box.The mission was to france IIRC.Upon his return from the mission he was restricted from flying anymore combat missions.

[Viking2002]

James Doohan Wiki:

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. He was sent 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 graduated 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 he was never actually a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force, Doohan was once labeled the "craziest pilot in the CanadianIn the late spring of 1945, on Salisbury Plain north of RAF Andover, he slalomed a plane between telegraph poles "to prove it could be done"—earning himself a serious reprimand. (Various accounts cite the plane as a Hurricane or a jet trainer; however, it was a Mark IV Auster.)

[BlackElk]

You are welcome. I often make mistakes if I am too rushed to look at on line encyclopedias and other sources. God bless you and yours!

[laplata]

Thank you and God bless you and yours.

May God have mercy on the United States of America.

[Pelham]

Keeshan was a Marine, but too late to be in combat in WWII.

[donna]

Jean Shepherd was killed by an illegal alien drunk driver (blood-alcohol content of .24 percent) who had been deported at least twice.

[raybbr]

I think she was attractive. Not sure, but I’m guessing your distaste comes from what Arthur turned into later in life.

[miss marmelstein]

LOL!

[broken_clock]

Thanks for the background on Clark Gable.

It's good to see this thread every couple of years or so.

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

Yes, I agree.

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

I checked his IMDB page and he had 88 roles in about four years, so he did keep busy. I’ll keep my eyes peeled for him as I watch old movies. Another prolific bit actor, Stooges cast member, and WW2 vet was Cy Schindell. His death from cancer after the war was apparently related to a bad case of jungle rot he got in the Pacific.

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

You’re thinking of Bob Clark, director of “A Christmas Story.” Jean Shepherd died of natural causes in 1999.