FReeper Canteen ~ Hall of Heroes: Real Hollywood Heroes Part 7 ~ June 2, 2014

Serving The Best Troops and Veterans In The World !! | StarCMC

[Kathy in Alaska]

 

Our Troops Rock!  Thank you for all you do!

For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday...
Thank the Veterans who served
in The United States Armed Forces.

Looking forward to tomorrow's freedom? Support The United States
Armed Forces Today!

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~ Hall of Heroes ~
 

Real Hollywood Heroes

Part 7

Info from here.

 

           

"Armies do not fight wars; nations fight wars. War is not a military activity conducted by soldiers, but rather a social activity that involves entire nations. . . ." ~ Lt. Col. Paul Yingling, U.S. Army
 

There were a lot of Hollywood stars of the 1940s that put careers on hold to fight for freedom. Movie stars of World War II earned more than 300 medals and awards that honor their valor. U.S. awards and medals include Silver Stars, Distinguish Service Crosses, Air Medals, Bronze Stars, Presidential Unit Citations, Purple Hearts, and a Congressional Medal of Honor.

Back before Hollywood became Hollyweird....

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Clark Gable (1901-1960) [Gone with the Wind (1939); Command Decision (1948)]. Was already a mega-movie star when WWII broke out. Although he was beyond draft age when the U.S. entered the war, Gable enlisted as a private in the AAF on Aug. 12, 1942 at Los Angeles. He attended Officer's Candidate School in Miami Beach, Fla. and graduated as a second lieutenant on Oct. 28, 1942. He then attended aerial gunnery school and in Feb. 1943 was assigned to the 351st Bomb Group at Polebrook, England, where he flew operational missions over Europe in B-17s making film records of the missions. Capt. Gable was rotated back to the U.S. in Oct. 1943 because he was over-age for combat. At his request he was relieved from active duty as a Major on Jun. 12, 1944.

 

James Garner (1928- ) born James Baumgarner, dropped out of high school at 16 to join the Merchant Marine in the closing year of World War II. Later, in the Army, he received the Purple Heart when he was wounded during the Korean War. He had his first chance to act when a friend got him a non-speaking role in the Broadway stage play "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial (1954)." Part of his work was to read lines to the lead actors and he began to learn the craft of acting. The play led to small TV roles, TV commercials and eventually a contract with Warner Brothers. Director David Butler saw something in Garner and gave him all the attention he needed when he appeared in The Girl He Left Behind (1956). After co-starring in a handful of films during 1956-57, Warner Brothers gave Garner a co-starring role in the the TV western series "Maverick" (1957). The series was highly successful, and Garner continued in it into 1960 when he left in a dispute over money. Garner returned to films, often playing the same type of character he had played on "Maverick". His successful films included The Thrill of It All (1963); Move Over, Darling (1963); The Great Escape (1963) and The Americanization of Emily (1964). Amiable and handsome James Garner has obtained success in both films and television, often playing variations of the charming anti-hero con-man persona he first developed in Maverick.

 

Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez (1925-2006) [Wings of the Hawk (1953); Rio Bravo (1959)] was born in Aguilares, Texas, and had only the most elemental schooling as a youngster. He remained functionally illiterate for much of his life. One of his early talents was making musical instruments out of tangible items such as hubcaps, water-filled bottles and frying pans. During World War II he was a driver in the Army. First came to notice as a contestant on Groucho Marx's quiz show, You Bet Your Life (1950). His highly amusing personality won him bit parts in films, and he continued to work as a minor supporting player for years. He is the brother of Jose Gonzales Gonzales.

 

Harold Gould (1923- ) [The Yellow Canary (1963); English as a Second Language (2005)] was born Harold Goldstein in Schenectady, NY. He worked as a professional actor while still in high school, playing several roles in each episode of a local radio station's The FBI In Action. But his high school guidance counselor advised him that very few actors earn a decent living, and suggested he teach instead. He went to college with a career in education in mind, but left to join the Army during World War II. Assigned to a mortar platoon, he saw combat in eastern France. After the war, he earned his PhD in Theatre, and taught drama for many years, spending his summers as a part-time actor. He made his professional stage debut playing Thomas Jefferson in a Virginia production of The Common Glory in 1955, and he won an Obie in 1969 for his first New York stage appearance, The Increased Difficulty of Concentration. Gould is best known as Rhoda's father on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-1977) and Rhoda (1974-1978), and as Betty White's boyfriend on The Golden Girls (1985-1992).

 

Betty Grable (1916-1973) [By Your Leave (1934); Sweet Rosie O'Grady (1943)] was born Elizabeth Ruth Grable in St. Louis, Missouri. She became a big star in the 1930s and the public was enchanted with Betty. Her famous pin-up pose to console homesick GIs was easily the most popular pinup girl of World War II. A rearview swimsuit shot, in which she smiled invitingly over her shoulder adorned barracks all around the world. With that pin-up, the public buzz over the $1 million insurance policy on her legs, and as the star of lavish musicals, Betty became the highest-paid star in Hollywood. After the war, her star continued to rise.

 

Peter Graves (1926- ) [Fort Defiance (1951); Stalag 17 (1953); Number One with a Bullet (1987)] excelled at sports and music (as a saxophonist) while growing up in Minnesota and by age 16 he was a radio announcer at WMIN in Minneapolis. After two years in the U.S. Air Force in World War II, he studied drama at the University of Minnesota and then headed to Hollywood, where he first appeared on television and later made his film debut in Rogue River (1951). Numerous film appearances followed, especially in Westerns. Graves is primarily recognized for his television work, however, particularly as Jim Phelps in "Mission: Impossible" (1966). Graves is younger brother of James Arness, star of the long-running "Gunsmoke" (1955-1975) TV series.

 

Fred Gwynne (1926-1993) [On the Waterfront (1954); My Cousin Vinny (1992)] was an enormously talented character actor most famous for starring in the television situation comedies Car 54, Where Are You? (1961) (as "Officer Francis Muldoon") and The Munsters (1964) (as the Frankenstein clone, Herman Munster). He was very tall and had a resonant, baritone voice that he put to good use in Broadway musicals. Born Frederick Hubbard Gwynne in New York City to a wealthy stockbroker father, he attended the exclusive prep school, Groton, where he first appeared on stage in a student production of William Shakespeare's Henry V. After serving in the United States Navy as a radioman during World War II, he went on to Harvard, where he majored in English and was on the staff of the Harvard Crimson student newspaper.

 

...more next week...

Please remember the Canteen is here to honor, support and entertain our troops and their families.  This is a politics-free zone!  Thanks for helping us in our mission!  

[Publius]

If you were on a bar stool, my image would be of you singing Rodgers & Hart, Cole Porter or Irving Berlin.

[Kathy in Alaska]

I’m not surprised at all about the wheelchair. I chringed sometimes watching him walk. Strokes, even little ones are not good.

[ConorMacNessa]

Good evening, Kathy and Star!

***HUGS***



Thanks very much – coming aboard! Rendering Hand Salutes to our National Colors and to the Officer of the Deck!

And thanks very much to you and Star for tonight’s Hall of Heroes thread! These Hollywood luminaries stood for our Beloved Nation when we had our backs to the wall. God Bless them, God Bless them all, God Bless them good!

"Riamh nár dhruid ó sbairn lann!"

Genuflectimus non ad principem sed ad Principem Pacis!

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)

[SandRat]

[SandRat]

[Publius]

This is what I imagined you singing from a bar stool.

[left that other site]

Actually, I was singing my own original songs:-)

But I love the guys you mentioned!

My lyrics come straight from Scripture, so It would be the songwriting teams of St. Paul/LTOS, Matthew/LTOS, and Isaiah/LTOS. LOL!

[left that other site]

Ahhhh...Billie Holiday...I loved That Lady back in the Day.

[ConorMacNessa]

Welcome To All Who Enter This Canteen, To Our Serving Military, To Our Veterans, To All Military Families, To Our FRiends and To Our Allies!



Missing Man Setting

"The Empty Chair"

By Captain Carroll "Lex" Lefon, USN (RET), on December 21st, 2004

"In the wardroom onboard the aircraft carrier from which I recently debarked was a small, round table, with single chair. No one ever sat there, and the reasons, both for the table being there, and for the fact that the chair was always empty, will tell the reader a little bit about who we are as a culture. The wardroom, of course, is where the officers will dine; morning, noon and evening. It is not only a place to eat – it is also a kind of oasis from the sometimes dreary, often difficult exigencies of the service. A place of social discourse, of momentary relief from the burdens of the day. The only things explicitly forbidden by inviolable tradition in the wardroom are the wearing of a cover or sword by an officer not actually on watch, or conversation which touches upon politics or religion. But aboard ships which observe the custom, another implicit taboo concerns the empty chair: No matter how crowded the room, no matter who is waiting to be seated, that chair is never moved, never taken.

The table is by the main entrance to the wardroom. You will see it when you enter, and you will see it when you leave. It draws your eyes because it is meant to. And because it draws your eyes it draws your thoughts. And though it will be there every day for as long as you are at sea, you will look at it every time and your eyes will momentarily grow distant as you think for a moment. As you quietly give thanks.

AS YOU REMEMBER.

The small, round table is covered with a gold linen tablecloth. A single place setting rests there, of fine bone china. A wineglass stands upon the table, inverted, empty. On the dinner plate is a pinch of salt. On the bread plate is a slice of lemon. Besides the plate lies a bible. There is a small vase with a single red rose upon the table. Around the vase is wound a yellow ribbon. There is the empty chair.

We will remember because over the course of our careers, we will have had the opportunity to enjoy many a formal evening of dinner and dancing in the fine company of those with whom we have the honor to serve, and their lovely ladies. And as the night wears on, our faces will in time become flushed with pleasure of each other’s company, with the exertions on the dance floor, with the effects of our libations. But while the feast is still at its best, order will be called to the room – we will be asked to raise our glasses to the empty table, and we will be asked to remember:

The table is round to show our everlasting concern for those who are missing. The single setting reminds us that every one of them went to their fates alone, that every life was unique.

The tablecloth is gold symbolizing the purity of their motives when they answered the call to duty.

The single red rose, displayed in a vase, reminds us of the life of each of the missing, and their loved ones who kept the faith.

The yellow ribbon around the vase symbolizes our continued determination to remember them.

The slice of lemon reminds us of the bitterness of their fate.
The salt symbolizes the tears shed by those who loved them.
The bible represents the faith that sustained them.
The glass is inverted — they cannot share in the toast.
The chair is empty — they are not here. They are missing.

And we will remember, and we will raise our glasses to those who went before us, and who gave all that they had for us. And a part of the flush in our faces will pale as we remember that nothing worth having ever came without a cost. We will remember that many of our brothers and sisters have paid that cost in blood. We will remember that the reckoning is not over.

We many of us will settle with our families into our holiday season, our Christmas season for those who celebrate it, content in our fortune and prosperity. We will meet old friends with smiles and laughter. We will meet our members of our family with hugs. We will eat well, and exchange gifts and raise our glasses to the year passed in gratitude, and to the year to come with hope. We will sleep the sleep of the protected, secure in our homes, secure in our homeland.

But for many families, there will be an empty chair at the table this year. A place that is not filled.

WE SHOULD REMEMBER."

Many Thanks To Alfa6 For Finding Capt. Lefon's Chronicle Of "The Empty Chair."

"Träumerei"
Robert Schumann
(Click)

Never Forget The Brave Men And Women Who Gave
Their Lives To Secure Our Freedom!!

"Riamh nár dhruid ó sbairn lann!"

Genuflectimus non ad principem sed ad Principem Pacis!

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)

[SkyDancer]

~ Hi Kathy!

~ A new day – some more applicants ~

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Mooch...so different from the Hollyweird of today.

Is it hot yet for you? Yesterday we got a little rain, and today a little more. Hope more is coming.

[luvie]

You’re rubbing it in. LOL! Thank goodness I’m off...that will make it bearable for at least one person. :)

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Mayor, and thank you for today’s sustenance for body and soul.

Did you get some rest? Ready to take on the new week?

[luvie]

Thanks for more Hollywood heroes, galz! It’s always good to see that my favorite stars were also patriots!

Even if their politics might be liberal.:)

[Kathy in Alaska]

I knew at one time that he did his own stunts. That didn’t help his knees any. I didn’t know about the stunt driving.

[Arrowhead1952]

Thanks. I am tired of getting home at 11PM or later. I look forward to daytime shifts. Less pay per hour, but no shift will be past 7PM. (((HUGS))).

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Sand...((HUGS))

I agree with you...wish some of them were still here keeping the young punks in line.

How’s the noggin? Still sore? Healing nicely?

[Kathy in Alaska]

From Falstaff....”The better part of valor is discretion”.

Saving your ankle is important.

[Kathy in Alaska]

chringed = cringed

DUH!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Thanks, Mac, for the Missing Man Setting as we remember those who have given their all that we may gather safe and secure.