"Also present at Normandy was another Ford, Glenn Ford. Born Gwyllyn Ford in Quebec, Canada, on May 1, 1916, Ford is close-mouthed about his combat experience, and modestly states that during the war, while others were fighting the war, he was “making films.” What he fails to mention is that he was in command of a camera crew filming the Normandy landing on D-Day from the beach while under the constant threat of German small arms fire.
Ford enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps on Dec. 13, 1942, and completed basic training at San Diego. He was assigned to John Ford’s OSS photographic unit. Ford, a Marine sergeant, was one of the first Americans to enter the concentration camp at Dachau after its liberation by Allied troops. After the war, Ford was discharged from the Marines as a sergeant. His 108 films include 3:10 to Yuma (1957), Imitation General (1958) and Midway (1976)
Ford enlisted in the naval reserve on Dec. 30, 1958. He served as a public affairs officer for the 11th Naval District where he attained the rank of captain, and served on active duty for 30 days when he volunteered with his reserve unit for duty in a forward combat area in Vietnam. He advised Marine combat camera teams filming a documentary in the Mekong Delta. For his actions, Commander Glenn Ford was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal, and was decorated with the Vietnamese Legion of Merit First Class by Premier Nguyen Cao Ky on Feb. 4, 1967. He retired from the active reserve on Oct. 1, 1978."
Glenn Ford has a plaque in his honor on the memorial cross atop Mount Soledad in San Diego. Fortunately, it looks like it's going to stay there for a while now.
Just damn!
I'm always amazed at how much Hollywood has changed when it comes to the military. Old time actors like Jimmy Stewart, Clark Gable, Eddie Albert, and Sterling Hayden all put their acting careers on hold to do their bit for the country during wartime. Nowadays they'd probably be blackballed by studio execs!
Back when actors were men...