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Our Real American hollywood Heroes - salute

8K views 7 replies 3 participants last post by  Striperjim 
#1 ·
With the advent of World War II many of our actors went to fight rather than stand and rant against this country we all love. They gave up their wealth, position and fame to become service men & women, many as simple "enlisted men".
This page lists but a few, but from this group of only 18 men came over 70 medals in honor of their valor, spanning from Bronze Stars, Silver Stars, Distinguish Service Cross', Purple Hearts and one Congressional Medal of Honor.

  • Alec Guinness (Star Wars~Bridge over the River Kwai) operated a British Royal Navy landing craft on D-Day.
  • Earnest Borgnine was a U. S. Navy Gunners Mate 1935-1945.
  • Charles Bronson was a tail gunner in the Army Air Corps, more specifically on B-29s in the 20th Air Force out of Guam, Tinian, and Saipan
  • James Doohan ("Scotty" on Star Trek) landed in Normandy with the U. S. Army on D-Day.
  • Charles Durning was a U. S. Army Ranger at Normandy earning a Silver Star and awarded the Purple Heart.
  • Clark Gable (Mega-Movie Star when war broke out) Although he was beyond the draft age at the time the U.S. entered WW II
    Clark Gable enlisted as a private in the AAF on Aug. 12, 1942 at Los Angeles.
    He attended the Officers' Candidate School at Miami Beach, Fla and graduated as a second lieutenant on Oct. 28, 1942. He then attended aerial gunnery school and in Feb. 1943 he was assigned to the 351st Bomb Group at Polebrook where flew operational missions over Europe in B-17s.
    Capt. Gable returned to the U.S. in Oct. 1943 and was relieved from active duty as a major on Jun. 12, 1944 at his own request, since he was over-age for combat.
  • Charlton Heston was an Army Air Corps Sergeant in Kodiak.


 
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#2 ·
Re: What happened to our real hollywood heros

  • Eddie Albert (Green Acres TV) was awarded a Bronze Star for his heroic action as a U. S. Naval officer aiding Marines at the horrific battle on the island of Tarawa in the Pacific Nov. 1943.
  • John Russell: In 1942, he enlisted in the Marine Corps where he received a battlefield commission and was wounded and highly decorated for valor at Guadalcanal.
  • Brian Keith served as a U.S. Marine rear gunner in several actions against the Japanese on Rabaul in the Pacific.
  • Lee Marvin was a U.S. Marine on Saipan during the Marianas campaign when he was wounded earning the Purple Heart.
  • Audie Murphy, little 5'5" tall 110 pound guy from Bay City, Texas who played cowboy parts? Most decorated serviceman of WWII and earned: Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross, 2 Silver Star Medals, Legion of Merit, 2 Bronze Star Medals with "V", 2 Purple Hearts, U.S. Army Outstanding Civilian Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal, 2 Distinguished Unit Emblems, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with One Silver Star, Four Bronze Service Stars (representing nine campaigns) and one Bronze Arrowhead (representing assault landing at Sicily and Southern France) World War II Victory Medal Army of Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, Combat Infantry Badge, Marksman Badge with Rifle Bar, Expert Badge with Bayonet Bar, French Fourragere in Colors of the Croix de Guerre, French Legion of ! Honor, Grade of Chevalier, French Croix de Guerre With Silver Star, French Croix de Guerre with Palm, Medal of Liberated France, Belgian Croix de Guerre 1940 Palm.
  • David Niven was a Sandhurst graduate and Lt. Colonel of the British Commandos in Normandy.
  • Donald Pleasance (The Great Escape) really was an R. A. F. pilot who was shot down, held prisoner and tortured by the Germans.
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#3 ·
Re: What happened to our real hollywood heros

  • Tyrone Power (an established movie star when Pearl Harbor was bombed) joined the US. . Marines, was a pilot flying supplies into, and wounded Marines out of, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
  • Robert Ryan was a U.S. Marine who served with the OSS in Yugoslavia.
  • George C. Scott was a decorated U. S. Marine.
  • James Stewart Entered the Army Air Force as a private and worked his way to the rank of Colonel.
    During World War II, Stewart served as a bomber pilot, his service record crediting him with leading more than 20 missions over Germany, and taking part in hundreds of air strikes during his tour of duty.
    Stewart earned the Air Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross, France's Croix d Guerre,and 7 Battle Stars during World War II.
    In peace time, Stewart continued to be an active member of the Air Force as a reservist, reaching the rank of Brigadier General before retiring in the late 1950's.


 
#4 ·
Re: What happened to our real hollywood heros

the man standing in honor of the soldiers and our flag is one of few left of the greatest generation...im sorry thats the way it is, my grandfather warned me of this before he died many years ago, i was about 12yrs old(i think).
 
#8 ·
Re: If I die before You wake - salute to our heroes

Remember our heroes.
Happy memorial Day.

Memorial Day
By Joyce Kilmer
Joyce Kilmer was killed-in-action in World War I and
is best remembered for his poem "Trees."

The bugle echoes shrill and sweet,
But not of war it sings to-day.
The road is rhythmatic with the feet
Of men-at-arms who come to pray.
The roses blossom white and red
On tombs where weary soldiers lie;
Flags wave above the honored dead
And martial music cleaves the sky.
Above their wreath-strewn graves we kneel,
They kept the faith and fought the fight. Through flying lead and crimson steel
They plunged for Freedom and the Right.
May we, their grateful children, learn
Their strengh, who lie beneath the sod,
Who went through fire and death to earn
At last the accolade of God.
In shining rank on rank arrayed
They march, the legions of the Lord;
He is their Captain unafraid,
The Prince of Peace . . . Who brought a sword.
 
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