correction, make that his brother George was an instructor for the Tuskegee Airmen...
...and it was Captain Kangaroo, Bob Keeshan, that was a Marine
Actually, I believe it was Mr. Greenjeans who served in The Corps during World War II. Not sure about the service of Captain Kangaroo, although I loved that show as a kid.
Those are interesting little facts...who served and when.
James “Scotty” Doohan of Star Trek fame:
He was part of the Normandy Invasion, and was wounded. (from Wikipedia: “His first combat assignment was the invasion of Normandy at Juno Beach on D-Day. Shooting two snipers along the way, Doohan led his unit to higher ground through a field of anti-tank mines and took defensive positions for the night. Crossing between command posts at 11:30 that night, Doohan took six rounds from a Bren gun fired by a nervous sentry:[3] four in his leg, one in the chest, and one through his right middle finger. The bullet to his chest was halted by the silver cigarette case he carried, and his wounded finger was amputated which he would conceal during his career as an actor.”
Lee Marvin:
“He left school to join the U.S. 4th Marine Division, serving as a sniper. Marvin was wounded in action during the WWII battle of Saipan, eight months prior to the battle of Iwo Jima. Most of his platoon were killed during the battle. This had a significant effect on Marvin for the rest of his life.[1] He was sent home with a medical discharge and a rank of PFC.”
David Niven:
He was a British Commando, and came ashore in Normandy several days ahead of the invasion.
Don Adams (Get Smart):
Was on Guadalcanal as a US Marine, was wounded, contracted malaria and nearly died from blackwater fever. He was pretty debilitated for a long time...
Eddie Albert (From Green Acres):
This one really surprised me. From Wikipedia: “Albert served as a lieutenant in the United States Navy in the Pacific during World War II. A genuine war hero, he was awarded the Bronze Star for his actions during the Battle of Tarawa in 1943, when, as a landing ship pilot, he rescued 70 wounded Marines while under heavy enemy machine-gun fire.”
Jack Palance...Jimmy Stewart...the list goes on.
Check out this link, it is very interesting reading!
http://www.jodavidsmeyer.com/combat/military/actors_in_wwii.html