Posted on 08/12/2012 11:48:03 AM PDT by DFG
Jimmy Stewart is perhaps the best known of the celebrities who served, partially because he chose to serve while already a successful movie star.
However, having come from a military family (both of his grandfathers had fought in the Civil War, and his father served in both the Spanish-American War and World War I), he saw it as his duty and was more than happy to serve.
Stewart already held his private pilots’ license when he was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1940, but was rejected for being below the required weight of 148 pounds. Rather than going back to making movies, Stewart asked the studio’s trainer to help him put on weight. He still missed the weight requirement on his first attempt to enlist in the Army Air Corps.
Finally, he made weight and enlisted in March 1941.
Pvt. James Stewart began pilot training and earned a commission as a second lieutenant in January 1942, after the attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into World War II. He became an instructor pilot and performed limited engagements for the Army Air Forces. For example, he performed with Orson Welles, Lionel Barrymore and others in the radio program "We Hold These Truths," to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Bill of Rights.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Wayne motivated thousands of enlistments. He was practically the Head Recruitment Officer.
Who said anything about Wayne being a “hero”? Not me.
Wayne made a bunch of very enjoyable movies which I enjoy still. They generally exemplified pro-American themes and were considered to be true American icons.
He was no more a “hero” than a boxer, or a marshal or a rancher.
He was famous before WWII occurred. And wealthy.
He also stood up to the Commies when they were taking over Hollywood unlike another of my favorite actors, Bogie. There is a big reason the Left HATES John Wayne.
I have been collecting information on Celebrities In Uniform for over 10 years. Here’s my list:
http://www.portcall24.com/Celebrities_In_Uniform.htm
Worst
war
movie
ever.
That from someone who was airborne and detached to SF, will watch a Wayne (Morrison) movie whenever the chance comes, thinks the original Stagecoach is the greatest western ever, and whose mother claimed to have met him as high school students in Glendale (despite being ten years his junior...she did know Bob Wian so maybe I misheard).
Worst WWII propaganda film ever shot 20 years after the fact & in another country altogether.
Worst attempt at a Cowboys and Indians movie ever set in Indochina.
On the other hand, with kudos to Wayne, at the time only that film and Patton even attempted to portray us as the good guys during our time in Vietnam.
I think Ted Williams the greatest hitter ever to step up to the plate served in WWII and Korea as a pilot.
I think Ted Williams, the greatest hitter ever to step up to the plate, served in WWII and Korea as a pilot.
One you left off your list is Richard Todd.
I don’t recall the details but do know he was a combat veteran of WWII and am pretty sure a highly decorated one. I think he was Scottish so would have been in British Army.
Also a great actor.
Lee Marvin - Pacific Marine.
Those were the days when all Americans were proud to don the uniform to serve their country.
And let’s not forget Captain Kangaroo’s Mr. Greenjeans, ex-Marine, and Johnny Carson, Navy, and Ed McMahon, Naval Aviator, World War II.
Clark Gable was a waist gunner in Eighth Air Force bombing runs over Germany.
Here's my dog replicating the pose :-)
Audie Murphy was a wormy farm kid who enlisted, became a hero, and parlayed it into fame and fortune. Good for him. I wish more current vets were able to do the same.
John Wayne had fame and fortune before the war. He wouldn’t consider himself a hero, either.
Yeah, John Wayne was always willing to impersonate real heroes. But he certainly didn't want to have real bullets flying at him.
“Upon graduating from Glendale High School in 1925, Wayne applied to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, hoping to live out his dream of being a career Naval officer. He came close but was instead chosen the first alternate candidate.
By the start of World War II Wayne had been suffering for years from a badly torn shoulder muscle incurred in a body surfing accident that cost him his football scholarship at USC in 1927. He also had a bad back from performing his own stunts during ten years acting in “B” Westerns. Moreover, he suffered from a chronic ear infection, resulting from hours of underwater filming on Cecil B. De Mille’s Reap the Wild Wind in 1941. Had Wayne actually undergone a pre-induction physical, he might indeed have been classified 4-F.
According to Randy Roberts and James Olson’s top notch John Wayne American, as a married but separated father of four and thirty-four years old in 1942 Wayne was classified by the Selective Service as 3-A (deferred for family dependency). In 1944 as the U.S. Military feared a manpower shortage he was reclassified 1-A (draft eligible). There is no record that he disputed this reclassification but his employer, Republic Studios, did and requested he be given a 2-A classification (deferred in the national interest, i.e., war bond drives, visiting the troops, etc.). Selective Service records for World War II are spotty at best, many having been destroyed, but surviving records indicate these claims were filed “by another,” i.e. Republic Studio’s legal department. In fact, a letter from Republic Studios head Herbert Yates threatened to sue Wayne for breach of contract should he leave the studio for volunteer military service, though it is doubtful he would have carried through with the threat. But Wayne was indeed Republic’s biggest moneymaker during the war and that studio’s only “A” star at the time.
Yet, according to director John Ford’s grandson, in 1943 John Wayne tried to get a commission in the Marine Corps and get attached to Ford’s O.S.S. (the forerunner of the C.I.A.) Field Photographic Unit. In Pappy; the Life of John Ford, Dan Ford says emphatically “…that the billets were frozen in 1943. John (Ford) couldn’t get Wayne in as an enlisted man, much less an officer.”
For Duke; the Life and Image of John Wayne Ron Davis interviewed over seventy Wayne intimates including Jimmy Stewart, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Harry Carry Jr., Robert Stack and Gene Autry, who all served during World War II. He never noted criticism of Wayne on the draft issue from any of them.
There is a letter from Wayne to Ford in May of 1942 in the John Ford Papers at Indiana State University quoted by Davis in which Wayne practically begs his mentor to find a way for him to join up: “Have you any suggestions on how I should get in? Can you get me assigned to your outfit, and if you could, would you want me? How about the Marines? You have Army and Navy men under you. Have you any Marines or how about a Seabee or what would you suggest or would you? No I’m not drunk. I just hate to ask for favors, but for Christ sake you can suggest can’t you? No kidding, coach who’ll I see.” No response by Ford has yet surfaced but these don’t sound like the words of a man shirking his duty. Wayne’s sometimes secretary at Republic, Catalina Lawrence, remembered writing letters to various military officials inquiring about possible service during this time period.
There has always been a suspicion that Ford refused to intercede on Wayne‘s behalf because he knew that with so many other male “A” stars in uniform that his friend would have an excellent chance of becoming a major star.
THERE IS MORE HERE— http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Hollywood/2010/02/28/John-Wayne—World-War-II-and-the-Draft
See post 55.
Reagan’s military service from this site. http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=1660
Several years after graduating from college and while employed as a sports announcer by a radio station in Iowa, Ronald Reagan began taking home-study U.S. Army Extension Courses. He enrolled in the program on March 18, 1935, and by December 1936, he had completed 14 courses. He then joined the Army’s Enlisted Reserve Corps at Des Moines, Iowa, on April 29, 1937, as a private in Troop B, 322nd Cavalry. On May 25, 1937, he was appointed a second lieutenant in the Officers’ Reserve Corps of the Cavalry and on June 18, 1937, he accepted his officer’ commission.
Following the Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, Reagan interrupted his acting career and on April 19, 1942, went on active duty. This was not achieved without some difficulty because when Reagan took his first physical exam, he was not accepted for active duty due to eyesight difficulties. His persistence finally triumphed and he was given another exam, which he passed. He was classified for limited service only, which permanently denied to him his ambition of serving overseas. His first assignment was at the San Francisco Port of Embarkation, Fort Mason, Calif., as Liaison Officer of the Port and Transportation Office.
At this time, the AAF and Warner Brothers Studios were planning a feature motion picture to be entitled “Air Force” and wanted Reagan for the leading role, so on May 15, 1942, he applied for transfer from the Cavalry to the AAF.
The transfer was approved and on June 9, 1942, Reagan was assigned to AAF Public Relations as P.R. Officer in Burbank, Calif., and subsequently to the 1st Motion Picture Unit in Culver City.
Lt. Reagan was promoted to first lieutenant, Jan. 14, 1943, and on Feb. 26, he was sent to the Provisional Task Force Show Unit of “This is the Army” at Burbank. Following this duty, he returned to the 1st Motion Picture Unit and on July 22, 1943, was promoted to captain.
As the result of a personal request from the Secretary of the Treasury to the Secretary of War, Reagan was ordered on temporary duty to New York City in January 1944 to participate in the opening of the 4th War Loan Drive, after which he returned to California to the 1st Motion Picture Unit. On Nov. 14, 1944, he was assigned to the 18th AAF Base Unit at Culver City where he remained until the end of the war. On Sept. 8, 1945, he was ordered to Fort MacArthur, Calif., for separation, effective Dec. 9, 1945.
While on active duty with the 1st Motion Picture Unit and the 18th AAFBU, Reagan served as Personnel Officer, Post Adjutant, Executive Officer, and even Commanding Officer, often two or more at the same time. On May 15, 1945, in a memo to Gen. H.H. “Hap” Arnold, Commanding General of the AAF, Maj. Gen. James P. Hodges, the Assistant Chief of the Air Staff for Intelligence, wrote that Reagan “has proven himself to be an officer of exceptional ability, demonstrating unusual initiative, and performs his duties in a superior manner. Captain Reagan has received a ‘superior’ efficiency rating continually since 1 Jul., 1943.” The reference to “unusual initiative” undoubtedly resulted, at least in part, from Reagan repeatedly volunteering to assist in producing and narrating AAF motion pictures, in addition to his regular duties. By the end of the war, his military units had produced 400 training films for the AAF.
In 1945, Reagan was recommended for promotion but because there was no major’s vacancy in his unit at the time, the request was not approved. On April 1, 1953, his commission in the Officers’ Reserve Corps was terminated as required by law and his military affiliation apparently ended.
Excellent work, you are creating a great source, and from what I saw it is accurate.
You caught the Glenn Ford stuff, and Brian Dennehy.
Wayne did his best and had no reason to be ashamed of his lack of service.
I remember my parents had four kids and Daddy was a Farmer which was a needed civilian position yet he stil got drafted.
Actually I think Daddy enjoyed the army tho he had several close brushes with death while in the combat engineers. He said the food was good and the pay with Mother getting an allotment for herself and the children plus Daddy sent his paycheck home too was good money. Mother saved over $4,000.00 while he was in the army.
When you consider that daddy was farming with a single horse pulling a plow nearly every day, the army was easy life except when they were building bridges under fire etc.
He didn’t need the paycheck as he got everything he needed from the army and sold his cigaret ration for more money than he needed. Daddy brought home a luger, a P-38, an Austro -Hungarian .32 auto. a puma knive and some expensive perfume from Paris for Mother.
I later learned the army gave the perfume to the soldiers to use as gifts to the girls when they visited Paris. My father being married just kept it for his wife. I can remember that perfume and it was clearly expensive stuff just judging from the bottle and packaging.
Old Indiana county courthouse in the background behind Jimmy. I work in the new courthouse two blocks west. There’s a statue of Jimmy out front. We often see tourists getting their picture taken there. He was a very special man.
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