Veterans' Day

The following has been shamelessly stolen from BareNakedIslam.com - mostly because I'll be go-to-hell if I could ever come up with anything nearly as good as she did for this Veterans' Day.

A partial list of real Hollywood heroes who suspended their careers to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces after America was attacked on December 7, 1941:

• Eddie Albert - U.S. Navy … Saw combat on Saipan and Tarawa. Earned the Bronze Star.

• James Arness - U.S.Army, 3rd infantry division Italy, severely wounded and left with a lifelong limp

• Gene Autry – U.S. Army Air Corps … Flew cargo planes in China, Burma and India

• Humphrey Bogart – U.S. Navy … Wounded in World War I, he tried to enlist after Pearl Harbor but was turned down because of his age.

• Charles Bronson - U. S. Army tailgunner aboard a B-29 Superfortress over the skies of Japan and was also awarded the Purple Heart for wounds.

• Mel Brooks - U.S. Army… served as a forward artillery observer

• Johnny Carson - U.S. Navy officer

• Jackie Coogan – U.S. Army Air Corps … Volunteered for hazardous duty with the 1st Air Commando Group

• Tony Curtis - U.S. Navy submarine duty

• Sammy Davis, Jr. – U.S. Army … Assigned to Special Services Command

• Kirk Douglas - U.S. Army

• Charles Durning - Served in very intense combat from Omaha beach to the Battle of the Bulge as a infantryman and was wounded no less than three times in a year while being awarded the silver star for valor.

• Buddy Epsen - Coast Guard officer

• Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. – U.S. Navy … Served on a battleship and as a commando raider. Helped to organize the forerunners of today’s Navy SEALs. Won a silver star while serving on PT Boats in combat.

• Henry Fonda - U.S. Navy … Served aboard a destroyer in the Pacific. Earned a Bronze Star for Valor.

• Glenn Ford – U.S. Marine Corps … Earned a number of citations and awards for combat action. After the war, he transferred his commission to the U.S. Naval Reserve.

• John Ford (director) – U.S. Navy Rear Admiral, landed on Omaha Beach at Normandy

• Clark Gable – U.S. Army Air Corps … Enlisted in 1942 at age 41. Volunteered for combat duty and flew missions over Germany. Earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal. Gable joined the Army Air Corps and led a film section making training films. Unsatisfied with this he flew on combat missions over Germany where his biggest fan Adolf Hitler placed a bounty on his head if captured alive.

• Charlton Heston – U.S. Army Air Corps … B-25 gunner; saw action in the Pacific.

• Hal Holbrook - Served in Canada with the Army

• William Holden – U.S. Army Air Corps … Served 1942-1945. His brother, a U.S. Navy pilot, was killed in the Pacific in 1944.

• Rock Hudson - U.S. Navy aircraft mechanic in the Philippines.

• Brian Keith – U.S. Marine Corps … Saw combat on Rabal

• Werner Klemperer – U.S. Army … Stationed in Hawaii as a Military Policeman, he auditioned for and was accepted into Maurice Evans’ Special Services unit.

• Harvey Korman - U.S. Navy

• Nancy Kulp – U.S. Navy … Served as a Navy WAVE

• Bert Lancaster – U.S. Army … Served in Tunisia and Italy

• Lee Marvin - U.S. Marine participating in the invasions at Kwajalein and Eniwetok and was wounded on Saipan

• Ed McMahon – U.S. Marine Corps … Became a fighter pilot in 1944. Recalled to active duty in 1952 for the Korean War and flew 85 combat missions. Remained in the Air National Guard until 1966 when he retired as a Brigadier General.

• Burgess Meredith – U.S. Army Air Corps

• Glenn Miller – U.S. Army … Assigned to the Army Specialist Corps. Convinced the Military that he could modernize the Army Band and improve the morale of the troops. Organized the Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band. His plane disappeared on 15 December 1944 over the English Channel.

• Robert Montgomery – U.S. Navy … Enlisted in the British Military before American joined the war and drove ambulances in France until the Dunkirk invasion. When America entered the war, he joined the U.S. Navy and served as a Naval Attaché on British destroyers hunting German U-Boats. He commanded a PT boat and participated in the D-Day invasion aboard a destroyer.

• Wayne Morris – U.S. Navy … Flew 57 combat missions in the Pacific. Shot down seven Japanese aircraft, becoming an “Ace”. Credited with assisting the sinking of five Japanese warships.

• Paul Newman - U.S. Navy radioman in torpedo bombers

• Tyrone Power – U.S. Marine Corps … Enlisted immediately after Pearl Harbor. Flew wounded Marines from Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

• Gene Raymond - Served in both World War II and Vietnam

• Ronald Reagan – U.S. Army Air Corps … Enlisted in the Army Reserve in 1937; commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant and was called to active duty in 1942. Because of a hearing loss, he was not allowed to fly, so he was assigned to make training films.

• Don Rickles - U.S. Navy

• John Russell – U.S. Marine Corps … Wounded at Guadalcanal

• Robert Ryan - U.S. Marine Corps … Served with the O.S.S. in Yugoslavia

• Soupy Sales - U.S. Navy

• Rod Serling – U.S. Army … Was a paratrooper with the 11th Airborne Division in the Pacific where he specialized in combat demolitions. Severely wounded by shrapnel during the invasion of the Philippines.

• Rod Steiger - U.S. Navy

• Jimmy Stewart – U.S. Army Air Corps … Flew B-17 and B-24 combat missions, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, France’s Croix de Guerre and 7 Battle Stars. His son, 1st Lt. Ronald McLean, was killed in Vietnam in 1969.

• Buddy Hackett, Jack Paar, Bob “Captain Kangaroo” Keeshan, Jack Klugman, Red Skelton, Robert Stack, Lee Van Cleef, Dick Van Dyke, also served, although they never saw combat. Musician Desi Arnaz was drafted but after being hurt in boot camp served the rest of the war helping with the USO. Dean Martin was drafted into the army and served for a year in Ohio before being found 4-F and discharged

• These actors attempted to serve but were turned down because of medical conditions … Fred Astaire, Marlon Brando, Gary Cooper, Errol Flynn, Cary Grant, Bob Hope, Peter Lawford, Gregory Peck, George Raft, John Wayne and Richard Widmark

A complete list of Hollywood ‘heroes’ who suspended their careers to enlist in the U.S. Armed Forces after America was attacked on September 11, 2001: