Lee Marvin - True Hollywood Hero - True War Story from Iwo Jima

www.hollywood-hero.us ^ | 03-26-03 | www.hollywood-hero.us

[lisaann8]

Lee Marvin - True War Story

Some people have been a bit offended that Hollywood star Lee Marvin is buried in a grave at Arlington National Cemetery alongside 3 and 4 star generals. His marker gives his name, rank (PVT) and service (USMC). Nothing else. Isn't this a guy who was only a famous movie star who served his time; why the heck does he rate burial with these guys?

Well, following is the amazing answer:

[irish guard]

Huh, my father-in-law saw duty at Pelileu...he was a Marine fighter pilot, flew F4U Corsiars....He was one of the Marines who was involved in the Battle of Bloody Nose Ridge....a real mess. We controlled the take off part of the runway and the Japanese the other end of the runway....he'd land and jam the brakes turn around quickly...load a bomb and take off dropping the bomb just at the end of the runway and up the hillside, where the Japanese had a big gun hidden in a cave. It was really hairy and one of the few things he ever talked about. Very calmly described how the Marines that day were really taking it on the chin....Those men and the men fighting today are not much different. They are simply magnificent people doing a difficult job. My father-in-law dies three years ago and I miss his quiet, sureness......something I am certain he learned in the war and in the Marines....

[skeeter]

Thats weird. I saw a tape of Marvin interviewed by David Frost back in the early seventies & the only thing that resembled this interview was the location of his wound.

He told Frost his advance sniper-recon team was ambushed on Saipan.

[dead]

Bozo the Clown was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions at Anzar.

Though wounded, he used his giant shoes to deflect incoming machine gun fire and saved the life of a famous British officer, Lord Charles Nelson Reilly.

[Charles Martel]

Here's another actor who served with valor:

From a bio website:

"The outbreak of World War II sent Eddie Albert into the United States Navy as a junior officer, and during 1943 he distinguished himself in the fighting on Tarawa. Assigned as the salvage officer in the shore party of the second landing wave, which engaged in heavy fighting with the Japanese, his job was to examine military equipment abandoned on the battlefield to see if it should be retrieved, but what he found were wounded men who had been left behind under heavy fire, whom he took off the beach in a small launch not designed for that mission, involving multiple trips; he earned commendations for his bravery, became a bona fide hero, and was sent home to support a War Bond drive (though he never traded on his war experiences, only discussing them in detail on camera in the 1990's)."

[annyokie]

This is indeed false. See Snopes.com to debunk.

[wireman]

Liberty!

[Leatherneck_MT]

Read this about 2 years ago. Lee Marvin and Bob Keenan, who'da thunk it.

Semper Fi gents

[Britton J Wingfield]

Sorry, Marvin was wounded on Saipan, and Captain Kangaroo enlisted too late to be deployed.

[Britton J Wingfield]

The true story is that Lee Marvin served in a unit commanded by Mr. Rogers.

WRONG. His squad leader was Barney, though, and that's a no-sh*tter!

[ffusco]

Captan Kangaroo received the Navy Cross!...........take that Big Bird!

[ffusco]

Omigowd!

If this is a myth... IT CHANGES EVERTHING.

[samuel_adams_us]

Another interesting fact is that Johnny Carson was in the navy during WWII as well. Jimmy Stewart was in the AirForce, and there are many others who contributed.

[samuel_adams_us]

Lee Marvin also raced motorcycles and was very good.

[el_chupacabra]

Bozo the Clown was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions at Anzar. Though wounded, he used his giant shoes to deflect incoming machine gun fire and saved the life of a famous British officer, Lord Charles Nelson Reilly.

That is, perhaps, the funniest thing I've ever read on this forum.

[LS]

To all: Here is a snapshot of my forthcoming U.S. history book, with the section on "Hollywood at War" in WW II, which mentions Marvin.

Celebrities of the day did not hesitate to enter the armed forces. Even before Pearl Harbor, many well-known personalities had signed up for the Reserves, including Major Cecil B. DeMille, Brig. Gen. Cornelius Vanderbilt, III, and Colonel David Sarnoff. Once war broke out, though, rather than seeking safety behind the lines, a number of movie stars and sons of elite families gave up their prestige and the protections of wealth to actively pursue combat assignments. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., quit his job in 1941 to go on active duty as a colonel, and later saw action on D- Day. Academy Award winner Van Heflin joined the Army as an artilleryman; Charleton Heston was a radio operator on B-25 bombers; Lucille Ball's famous Cuban husband, Desi Arnaz, was offered a commission in the Cuban navy, where, as an officer, he would be relatively safe on patrol in the Caribbean. He refused, choosing instead to enlist in the U.S. Navy, where he was rejected on the grounds that he was a non-citizen. Nevertheless, he could be drafted---and was--- and despite failing the physical, went into the infantry, where he injured his knees. He finished the war entertaining troops. Other young men went on to literary or theatrical fame after the war. Novelist Norman Mailer went ashore with his infantry regiment in the Philippines; and western writer Louis L'Amour hit the beaches with his tank destroyer on D-Day.

Alex Haley, who later became a famous novelist, served in the U.S. Coast Guard, while author William Manchester was wounded and left for dead, recovering after five months in a hospital. Tony Bennet, serving as an infantryman in Europe, got his first chance to sing while in the Army. Men who later would become Hollywood stars, including William Holden, Charles Bronson, Jack Lemmon, and Karl Maulden, signed up. Holden flew bombers over Germany, Ed McMahon was a U.S. Marine fighter pilot, and George Kennedy served under Gen. George Patton. Football greats, such as Tom Landry, coach of the Dallas Cowboys, flew B-17s with the Eighth Army, and baseball great Yogi Berra served as a gunner on a Navy bombardment ship. More than a few became heroes. Future director Mel Brooks fought at the Battle of the Bulge, Tony Curtis served on a submarine, and an underage Telly Savalas, later known for his television "Kojak" cop show role, was critically wounded in action and told he would never walk again. Academy Award winner Lee Marvin assaulted more than 20 beaches in the Pacific with his Marine unit, and in one battle, only Marvin and five others out of 247 survived. Walter Matthau, famous for his roles in the "Odd Couple" and the "Bad News Bears," won an impressive six silver stars as an Air Force gunner.

[snip]

Others, such as directors John Huston and John Ford, entered combat situations armed with movie cameras instead of guns, shooting war documentaries for propaganda. Science fiction writer Ray Bradbury honed his skills writing patriotic radio commercials. Jazz great Al Hirt entertained troops as part of the 82nd Army band, while bandleader Glenn Miller, who enlisted in the Air Force and was commissioned a captain, died while flying to Europe to entertain troops. Even civilians, at home or in service at the front, occasionally made the ultimate sacrifice, as when actress Carole Lombard died in an airplane crash on a tour selling war bonds. Ironically, one of the heroes most frequently associated with the military, John Wayne, was not drafted due to his large family, although he made several war movies that boosted morale immeasurably.

***********************************************

I didn't know about Eddie Albert, but will add him.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

was wounded at Pelilu

Saipan not Peleliu.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

Debunked here in March of 2002. Marvin

[ffusco]

Did you know Oscar the Grouch was hero in VietNam?
Like all who served in that war, Oscar received no parade. After his second tour, he couldn't readjust being back in the "world" but managed to get a job at the Department of Sanitation. He enjoyed the routine and the early hours, when the streets were deserted. he felt as if he had the city all to himself. Always a loner this suited Oscar just fine, but his good fortune would not last. Conflicts with his supervisors became more frequent. When he refused to see company psychiatrists he was fired. Soon after he became bitter, reclusive..... a different man.
At 38, homeless and unemployed, he struggled with alcoholism and substance abuse for many years. His luck changed again in 1967 when he met Jim Henson, a retired Navy SEAL. The rest is history.