Health & Fitness
Famous Veteran Celebrities
A look at famous celebrities who also served their country.
While passively watching the Oscars the other night, in a later segment of the show, I happened to catch a glimpse of a hat on a celebrity which showed him to be a veteran.
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Thanks to DVR technology, I was able to back up my television to see that, indeed, Don Rickles was wearing a U.S. Navy veteran’s hat. Skeptic that I am, I decided to research him and also found other famous veterans who have served.
I found a great site that listed many, and then I decided to dig further into the subject. The site that provided me the listing can be found at: http://www.kidsthankavet.com/?path=famous It is a worthwhile visit for veterans and non-veterans.
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Comedian and Mr. Warmth, Don Rickles, after graduating from high school enlisted in the Navy and served during World War II as a Seaman 1st class on the USS Cyrene. The Cyrene was a motor torpedo boat. Rickles was honorably discharged in 1946. Rickles also had a television series where he played a Navy CPO known as Sharkey.
Actor, Brian Keith joined the Marine Corps in after graduation from East Rockaway High School. He served as an air gunner – radio gunner in the rear cockpit of a Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber. Although relatively slow and outmoded when it began its combat career, the Dauntless was rugged and dependable and sank more Japanese shipping than any other aircraft during World War II. Keith received an Air Medal for his service. The medal is given for those that have distinguished himself/herself by meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Brian starred in Family Affair on TV as bachelor Bill Davis.
Audie Murphy was the most decorated soldier in World War II. He received every decoration the United States awards, including the Medal of Honor. He not only received 33 medals from the United States, but also received decorations from the Belgium and French Armies. When he returned to the United States he played in over 40 movies until he was killed in a plane crash. He was only 46 years old. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia with full honors. His gravesite is visited by over four million people every year, second only to the gravesite of John F. Kennedy. Every year a group of non-commissioned officers lay a wreath at his grave on his birthday, June 2nd.
Actor, Charles Bronson served in the Army Air Corps. He was given duties as a truck driver, and later trained as a tail-gunner and assigned to a B-29 bomber. Bronson flew on 25 missions and received a Purple Heart for wounds incurred in battle. Once he completed his military career, Bronson studied art, then acting, and then went on become an international star and icon of cinema, a favorite in both the US and abroad for 50 years and create movie history. After his return from World War II, Bronson used the GI Bill to study art, then acting. Before long, Bronson was making his film debut in You're in the Navy Now (1951). His movie career took off from that day forward. Charles Bronson was one of millions of American veterans who used his GI Bill benefits after his military service. Bronson is best known for movies such as The Dirty Dozen, The Great Escape and many others.
Clark Gable -- When his third wife Carole Lombard and her mother died in a plane crash returning from a War Bond drive, a grief-stricken Clark Gable joined the US Army Air Force and was off the screen for three years, flying combat missions in Europe during World War II. Clark Gable’s most memorable movies include the Civil war epic Gone With the Wind and the submarine film Run Silent Run Deep.
Actor and fumbling deputy portrayed on the Andy Griffith Show, Don Knotts was an Army Reservist for one week. After being inducted for World War II service on June 14, 1943, he was assigned to the Army Enlisted Reserve Corps on inactive duty. He reported for active duty a week later, on the 21st of June, and was transferred to active duty status in the US Army. Knotts was a veteran of the Second World War and was awarded the World War II Victory Medal, Philippine Liberation Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (with 4 bronze service stars), Army Good Conduct Medal, Marksman Badge (with Carbine Bar) and Honorable Service Lapel Pin.
Actor Ernest Borgnine joined the Navy in 1935, after graduation from his New haven, CT high school He was discharged in 1941, but re-enlisted when the United States entered World War II and he served until 1945 (a total of ten years), reaching the rank of Gunner’s Mate 1st Class. He served aboard the destroyer USS Lamberton. His military decorations included the American Campaign Medal, Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal. Ernest continued his Navy theme in television with McHale’s Navy which ran from 1962-1966.
Johnny Carson, the king of late-night TV for over three decades was working as a theater usher when World War II began. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy on June 8, 1943, as an apprentice seaman enrolled in the V-5 program, which trained Navy and Marine pilots. Although, John hoped to train as a pilot, he was sent instead to Columbia University for midshipman training. He performed magic for classmates on the side. John was commissioned an ensign late in the war and was assigned to the USS Pennsylvania, a battleship on station in the Pacific. He was en route to the combat zone aboard a troopship when the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki brought the war to a close. The Pennsylvania was torpedoed on August 12, 1945 and Carson reported for duty on the 14th — the last day of the war. Although he arrived too late for combat, he got a firsthand education in the consequences of war. The damaged warship sailed to Guam for repairs, and as the newest and most junior officer, Carson was assigned to supervise the removal of 20 dead sailors.
Heavyweight champion boxer, Rocky Marciano dropped out of high school and worked to help support his family. In 1943 at the age of 20, Rocky joined the Army and was sent overseas to Europe. Marciano was assigned to the 150th Combat Engineers. The 150th went on to receive service stars for Normandy, North France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace and Central Europe. It was in the Army that Marciano first began boxing, reportedly as a way to get out of kitchen duty. Rocky received an honorable discharge from the Army in the summer of 1946. He returned home to Brockton, Massachusetts and continued to box as an amateur. Rocky held the heavyweight title from September 23, 1952 to April 27, 1956. He is the only champion to hold the heavyweight title and go untied and undefeated throughout his career. Marciano defended his title six times.
When former New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra turned 18 he joined the Navy. World War II was in full swing and Yogi played his part. He participated in the D-Day invasion at Omaha Beach, served in North Africa and Italy, and then was finally stationed back in the States. After the war, Yogi returned to baseball and played with the New London, CT club. Yogi played almost his entire 19 year career as a New York Yankee and appeared in 21 World Series as a player coach or manger. He was the catcher who caught Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.
Singer Tony Bennet -- born as Anthony Benedetto -- was drafted into the US Army in November 1944, during the final stages of the Second World War. His basic training days were spent at Fort Dix and Fort Robinson as an infantry rifleman. Benedetto ran afoul of a sergeant from the South who disliked the Italian from New York City and heavy doses of Kitchen Police (KP) duty resulted. In January 1945, he was assigned as a replacement infantryman to the 255th Infantry regiment of the 63rd Infantry Division, a unit that has the objective of filling in for the heavy losses suffered in the Battle of the Bulge. He was active in both France, and later, Germany. In March of 1945 he joined the front lines which he would later describe as a "front-row seat in hell."
As the German Army was pushed back to their homeland, Benedetto and his comrades saw bitter fighting in cold winter conditions, often hunkering down in foxholes as German 88mm guns fired upon them. At the end of March, they crossed the Rhine River and entered Germany, often engaging in dangerous house-to-house searches trying to clean out German soldiers. During the first week of April, they crossed the Kocher River, and by the end of the month reached the Danube. During his time in combat, he narrowly escaped death several times. The experience made him a pacifist and he would later write, "Anybody who thinks that war is romantic obviously hasn't gone through one," he later said, "It was a nightmare that's permanent. I just said, 'This is not life. This is not life.'" At the war's conclusion he was involved in the liberation of a Nazi Concentration camp near Landsberg where some American POWs (Prisoners of War) from the 63rd Division were also being held. Tony stayed in Germany as part of the occupying force, but was assigned to an informal Special Services band unit that would entertain nearby American forces. Later, he sang with the 314th Army Special Services Band under the stage name Joe Bari (a name he had started using before the war, chosen after the city and province in Italy and as a partial anagram of his family origins in Calabria. Tony is probably best known for his rendition of “I left my heart in San Francisco”.
James Maitland Stewart (1908-1997) was known the world over as Jimmy Stewart. Starring in many famous movies, he was also a B-24 pilot. On March 22, 1941, Jimmy Stewart was drafted into the U.S. Armed Forces. He was assigned to the Army Air Corps as an enlisted man and stationed at Moffett Field, CA. During his nine months of training at that base, he also took extension courses with the idea of obtaining a commission. He completed the courses and was awaiting the results when Pearl Harbor took place. A month later he received his commission, and because he had logged over 400 hours as a civilian, he was permitted to take basic flight training at Moffett and received his pilot wings. During the next nine months, he instructed in AT-6, AT-9 and B-17 aircraft and flew bombardiers in the training school at Albuquerque, N.M. In the fall of 1943, Stewart went to England as Commanding Officer of the 703d Bomb Squadron, equipped with B-24s.
He began flying combat missions and on March 31, 1944, was appointed Operations Officer of the 453rd Bomb Group and, subsequently, Chief of Staff of the 2nd Combat wing, 2nd Air Division of the 8th Air Force. Stewart ended the war with 20 combat missions. He remained in the USAF Reserve and was promoted to brigadier general on July 23, 1959. He retired on May 31, 1968 after flying one final B-52 mission in Vietnam. In addition to achieving the rank of Brigadier General, Stewart received exceptional-service medals.
Some of Jimmy’s most memorable movies include It’s A Wonderful Life, Rear Window and Vertigo.
In the case of actor Alan Alda, art imitates life. Because before he created his award-winning and longstanding TV role as Captain Hawkeye Pierce, a surgeon stationed overseas during the Korean War, Alan Alda served his country as a gunnery officer in Korea, following the Korean War. Alan Alda was born in New York City. In 1956 he received his bachelor's degree from Fordham College of Fordham University in the Bronx. During his junior year, he studied in Paris, where he acted in a play in Rome and performed with his father on television in Amsterdam. After graduation, Alda joined the U.S. Army Reserve and served a six-month tour of duty in Korea.
Alda appeared in movies such as Same Time Next Year and The Four Seasons but he is most famous for his role on MASH which ran from 1972 to 1983. The series ended with the most watched television episode in television history when 125,000,000 viewers tuned in to see the conclusion.
Actress Bea Arthur (Maude) strangely denied serving in the armed forces even though military records show that the actress spent 30 months in the Marine Corps, where she was one of the first members of the Women’s Reserve and spent time as a typist and a truck driver. Ms. Arthur, who died last year at age 86, enlisted in early-1943 when she was 21 (and known as Bernice Frankel). Arthur was due to start a new job, but she “heard that enlistments for women in the Marines were open, so decided the only thing to do was to join.” While she hoped for an assignment in ground aviation, Arthur noted that she was “willing to get in now and do whatever is desired of me until such time as ground schools are organized.” She added, “As far as hobbies are concerned, I’ve dabbled in music and dramatics.”
Arthur started basic training in March 1943 and was initially assigned as a typist at Marine headquarters in Washington, D.C. Over the following two years, Arthur was stationed at Marine Corps and Navy air stations in Virginia and North Carolina. During her military career, Arthur’s rank went from private to corporal to sergeant to staff sergeant, the title she held upon her honorable discharge in September 1945. A year after her enlistment, Arthur married a fellow Marine, Private Robert Aurthur, in a ceremony presided over by a city judge in Ithaca, New York. She then formally had her named changed in military records to Bernice Aurthur. It would change again, to Bea Arthur, as she started her post-military career as an actress. Known mostly for her TV series such as Maude which was a spinoff of her character in All in the Family and the Golden Girls, she also appeared in the movie Mame playing Vera Charles a role she originated on Broadway.
Other famous celebrities and notables can be found on the website noted above and include:
Actors (Men)
Art Carney -- US Army
Bill Cosby -- US Navy
Bob Keeshan -- (Captain Kangaroo) US Marines
Burgess Meredith - US Army Air Corps
Burt Lancaster -- US Army
Carl Reiner -- US Army
Caroll O`Connor -- Merchant Marines
Charles Bronson -- US Army
Charles Durning - US Army, three Purple Hearts, and the Silver Star
Charlton Heston -- US Army
Chuck Norris -- US Air Force
Clint Eastwood -- US Army
Clu Gulager -- US Marine
David Eigenberg -- US Marine
Don Adams -- US Marine
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. -- US Navy
Drew Carry -- US Marines
Eddie Albert -- US Navy (Bronze Star)
Eli Wallach -- US Army
Frank Gorshin - US Army
Gene Autry -- Air Transport Command
Gene Hackman -- US Marine
George C Scott -- US Marine
George Kennedy -- US Army
George Peppard -- US Marine
Glen Ford -- US Marine
Harvey Keitel -- US Marine
Henry Fonda -- US Navy, Bronze Star
Humphrey Bogart - US Navy
Jack Lemmon -- US Navy Reserve
Jack Palance -- US Army (severely wounded)
Jack Warden -- 101 Airborne
Jackie Coogan -- US Army
Jackie Cooper -- US Navy
James Arness -- US Army, purple heart
James Earl Jones -- US Army
James Franciscus -- US Marine
James Whitmore
Jason Robards Jr -- US Navy
John Russell -- US Marine
Joseph Cotton -- US Air Force
Josh Gracin -- US Marine
Kirk Douglas -- US Navy
Lee Marvin -- US Marine (Purple Heart)
Maurice Evans -- Special Entertainment Unit
Mel Brooks (Melvin Kaminsky) -- combat engineer
Mickey Rooney -- US Army
Mike Connors -- US Marine
Mike Farrell -- US Marine
Montel Williams -- US Navy
Norman Fell -- US Army
Ossie Davis -- US Army
Richard Boone -- US Navy
Robert Duval -- US Army
Robert Montgomery -- US Navy Reserve
Robert Ryan -- US Marine
Robert Stack -- US Navy
Robert Wagner -- US Marine
Rod Serling -- US Army
Rod Stieger -- US Navy
Ronald Reagan -- US Army
Scott Glenn -- US Marine
Shecky Greene - US Navy
Sterling Hayden USMC
Steve McQueen -- US Marine
Tom Selleck -- National Guard
Tony Curtis -- US Navy
Tyrone Power -- US Marine
Clint Walker -- Merchant Marines
Werner Kemperer -- US Army
William Holden - US Army
William Conrad -- US Navy
Actors (women)
Bea Arthur -- US Marine Corps
Singers
Buddy Rich -- U S Marine
Don and Phil Everly -- US Marine
Elvis -- US Army
George Jones -- US Marine
Glen Miller -- US Army
Josh Gracin -- US Marine
Shaggy -- US Marine
Sports
Abner Doubleday (Yankee founder) -- US Army
Art Donovan (football) -- US Marine
Buster Drayton (boxing) -- US Marine
George Steinbrenner (owner of NY Yankees) -- US Air Force
Hank Bauer (Baseball) -- US Marine
Jackie Robinson -- US Army
Jessie Ventura -- Navy Seal
Lee Travino (Golf) -- US Marine
Leon Spinks (boxing) -- US Marine
Mike Anderson (NFL) -- US Marine
Patty Berg (golf) -- US Marine
Roberto Clemente (Baseball) -- US Marine
Rocky Blier -- US Army
Ted Williams -- US Marine
Tom Seaver (Baseball) -- US Marine
Other
Andy Rooney -- US Army
Arthur Godfrey -- Coast Guard
Charles Schultz (cartoonist) - US Army
Charles Walgreen (Founder of Walgreen`s Pharmacies) -- Spanish-American War
Dave Thomas (Founder of Wendy`s) -- US Army
Ed McMahon -- Johnny Carson`s sidekick -- US Marine
Edgar Allen Poe (poet)-- US Army
Ernest Hemmingway
Evil Knevil -- US Army
F Scott Fitzgerald
Fred W. Smith (CEO FedEx) -- US Marines
Gene Siskel (movie critic) -- US Army
George Westinghouse (Inventor, Westinghouse founder) -- Navy, Civil War
Judge Wapner -- US Army
Lee Harvey Oswald -- Assassin of President John F. Kennedy
Malcom Forbes (Publisher) -- US Army
Oliver Stone - Director
Pat Sajak -- game show host -- US Army
R. Buckminister Fuller (Inventor) -- US Navy
Theodore "Dr Seuss" Geisel
Wally Amos "Famous Amos" -- US Air Force War Cavalry
William Procter -- Founder of Procter and Gamble -- US Marine
Sources:
http://www.military.com/veteran-jobs/content/career-advice/military-tran...
http://www.militaryhub.com/military-people.cfm?id=2
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000022/bio
The National Museum of the Air Force
Wikipedia
