User Panel
Posted: 8/23/2011 4:12:44 PM EDT
We always the the usual suspects in these threads like Chuck Norris, Jimmy Stewart, etc. How about some lesser known veterans?
Russell Johnson AKA the Professor on Gilligan's Island. After high school, in the midst of World War II, Johnson joined the United States Army Air Forces as an aviation cadet; upon commissioning as a second lieutenant, Johnson was assigned the service number 0 765 497. He flew 44 combat missions as a bombardier in B-25 Mitchell bombers. His plane was shot down in the Philippines in March 1945 during a bombing run against Japanese targets. The plane had to crash land at the port of Zamboanga. In this mission, he broke both his ankles and earned a Purple Heart. He was also awarded the Air Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with three service stars, the Philippine Liberation Ribbon with one service star, and the World War II Victory Medal. He was honorably discharged with the rank of first lieutenant on November 22, 1945. He then joined the Army Reserve and used the GI Bill to fund his acting studies. Pat Harrington, Jr. AKA Schneider on One Day At A Time. During the Korean War, Harrington served as an Intelligence Officer with the United States Air Force, where he achieved the rank of First Lieutenant. Vic Morrow AKA Sgt. "Chip" Saunders on Combat U.S. Navy John Banner AKA Master Sergeant Hans Georg Schultz Hogan's Heroes A veteran of World War I Ralph Waite AKA John Walton Sr. on The Waltons served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1946 to 1948 Jonathan Winters Comedian United States Marine Corps and served two and a half years in the Pacific Theater during World War II Sherman Hemsley AKA George Jefferson on the Jeffersons He dropped out of school and joined the Air Force, where he served for four years. |
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John Banner AKA Master Sergeant Hans Georg Schultz Hogan's Heroes
A veteran of World War I John Banner was 8 when WW1 ended. Sgt. Schultz was a veteran of WW1. |
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Comic actor Fred Willard was an Army officer in the late 1950s.
He is one of my favorite funny men. |
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Jackie Coogan ("Uncle Fester" on the old Addams Family TV show) was a glider pilot in World War II.
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Drew Carey is a former US Marine. You are never a "former" Marine. |
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Paul Ruben AKA "Pee Wee Herman" was a Marine.
Wrong again. Damn intenet. Correction. made an honorary Marine in conjunction with his work with Toys for Tots. |
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John Holmes -Adult Fim Star
U.S. ARMY SIGNAL CORPS" PRO PATRIA VIGILANS" |
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Drew Carey is a former US Marine. You are never a "former" Marine. What the hell, we can't call them former Marines any longer? |
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I had the privledge of hauling Jonathan Winters to Europe on a USO trip. He sat on the flight deck and had us in stitches the entire way across the pond.
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Drew Carey is a former US Marine. Never would have thought that ! http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sl0RuUrHaO4/TXmKIA8NRsI/AAAAAAAAEro/QeOi4IBliEY/s1600/Drew_Carey-Marines.jpg His hair looks really long. What time frame was he in? |
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Drew Carey is a former US Marine. You are never a "former" Marine. What the hell, we can't call them former Marines any longer? If you have ever been a professional soldier of one kind or another, you will understand what I mean when I say that you can take the uniform off and put it in the closet, and you can return to civilian life and work in the private sector, but the warrior ethic - who you once were - you can't "take that off", because it is a part of you forever. The Marines have a saying that sums that up: "Once a Marine, always a Marine." You can say someone "served as a Marine" or "was a Marine" to indicate past-tense, sure, but to me, saying "former Marine" kind of misses that whole concept I outlined above. YMMV. |
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Quoted: USMCR, 1980-1986ish.Quoted: Quoted: Drew Carey is a former US Marine. Never would have thought that ! http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sl0RuUrHaO4/TXmKIA8NRsI/AAAAAAAAEro/QeOi4IBliEY/s1600/Drew_Carey-Marines.jpg His hair looks really long. What time frame was he in? |
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The King...Elvis Presley...could have spent his 2 year draft service stint touring with the USO, but refused saying he wanted to serve his 2 years as a regular soldier donating his pay to charity, buying TV sets for the whole base in Germany and buying extra fatigues for those in his platoon.
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Drew Carey is a former US Marine. You are never a "former" Marine. What the hell, we can't call them former Marines any longer? If you have ever been a professional soldier of one kind or another, you will understand what I mean when I say that you can take the uniform off and put it in the closet, and you can return to civilian life and work in the private sector, but the warrior ethic - who you once were - you can't "take that off", because it is a part of you forever. The Marines have a saying that sums that up: "Once a Marine, always a Marine." You can say someone "served as a Marine" or "was a Marine" to indicate past-tense, sure, but to me, saying "former Marine" kind of misses that whole concept I outlined above. YMMV. What raises my is when I meet people and they say: "I'm an ex-Marine." More often than not I find out they never served. |
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Drew Carey is a former US Marine. You are never a "former" Marine. What the hell, we can't call them former Marines any longer? I was never a Marine, but I have always been told that saying "Former Marine" was proper for a person no longer serving. |
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Drew Carey is a former US Marine. You are never a "former" Marine. What the hell, we can't call them former Marines any longer? I was never a Marine, but I have always been told that saying "Former Marine" was proper for a person no longer serving. I'm not sure it matters too much. Acknowledgement alone is probably enough. |
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Drew Carey is a former US Marine. You are never a "former" Marine. What the hell, we can't call them former Marines any longer? I was never a Marine, but I have always been told that saying "Former Marine" was proper for a person no longer serving. I was(am?) a Marine and I always say former Marine. When you just say "I'm a Marine", a lot of people think that you are saying that you are currently serving as a member of the Marine Corps, which can lead to some awkward misunderstandings. |
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http://blog.moviefone.com/2011/04/12/actors-who-served-in-military/
http://valdezlink.com/pages/actorheros-more.htm Speaking of Hogan's Heroes, I could have sworn Richard Dawson was in the armed forces, but it was the Merchant Marines. On another interesting note, Robert Clary, aka Corporal LeBeau, was the youngest of 14 children. At the age of twelve, he began a career singing professionally. In 1942, because he was Jewish, he was deported to the Nazi concentration camp, Ottmuth. He was later sent to Blechhammer, Gross Rosen, and finally Buchenwald where he was liberated on 11 April 1945. Twelve other members of his immediate family were sent to Auschwitz. Clary was the only survivor. When he returned to Paris after the war, he was ecstatic when he found that some of his siblings had not been taken away and had survived the Nazi occupation of France. |
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Mel Brooks.
Now that is one guy I would have loved to watch in the army! |
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The King...Elvis Presley...could have spent his 2 year draft service stint touring with the USO, but refused saying he wanted to serve his 2 years as a regular soldier donating his pay to charity, buying TV sets for the whole base in Germany and buying extra fatigues for those in his platoon. Well, that's cool. I knew he served, but I didn't know about his generosity. |
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Frank Sutton
While serving in the U.S. Army in WWII, he distinguished himself by taking part in 14 assault landings, including Leyte, Luzon, Bataan and Corregidor.
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Drew Carey is a former US Marine. You are never a "former" Marine. What the hell, we can't call them former Marines any longer? If you have ever been a professional soldier of one kind or another, you will understand what I mean when I say that you can take the uniform off and put it in the closet, and you can return to civilian life and work in the private sector, but the warrior ethic - who you once were - you can't "take that off", because it is a part of you forever. The Marines have a saying that sums that up: "Once a Marine, always a Marine." You can say someone "served as a Marine" or "was a Marine" to indicate past-tense, sure, but to me, saying "former Marine" kind of misses that whole concept I outlined above. YMMV. There are two types of Marines, active duty Marines (living) and those no longer on active duty (deceased). That's what my dad always used to say. He's no longer on active duty, God rest his soul. |
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John Holmes -Adult Fim Star U.S. ARMY SIGNAL CORPS" PRO PATRIA VIGILANS" I bet they used his dick in place of the RC-292 field antenna! |
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It's amazing to us now, but Hollywood was once very patriotic and was filled with ex military and military supporters.
Once upon a time, Hollywood loved America. Life is a circle, Hollyweird won't stay weird forever, I think they're going to be infiltrated and eventually taken back over. |
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This should not be surprising to those of us old enough to have that generation as parents. They served in large numbers. Defeated and crushed the enemies of freedom and then returned home to undertake great careers and lead this nation to it's greatest period of prosperity ever. They had grown up in the depression, they did not know how to whine about material things, they just knew that after defeating the Japs and Krauts, everything else was a lesser achievement.
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Ed McMahon of Late Night with Johnny Carson fame was a Marine Aviator in World War 2.
Carrier-qualified no-less. He saw no combat action during WW2, but flew 85 combat missions as an aerial close-air and artillery observer during the Korean War. ETA: My personal favorite example of this actor-patriot phenomena is Canadian actor James Doohan. That's right, Scotty from Star Trek landed at Normandy as Canadian Artillery officer. He shot two snipers and was wounded in a friendly-fire incident. Later in his career, he also took up as an aerial artillery spotter. |
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I was amazed at this guy. Was awarded the Silver Star and three Purple Heart medals - Battle of the Buldge
Charles Durning (actor - Brother Where Art Thou etc) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Durning |
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Quoted: Lee Marvin was a US Marine Sniper in WWII seen here in THE BIG RED ONE http://www.imfdb.org/w/images/8/88/TBRO_18.jpg He is also buried at Arlington. |
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Quoted: If you were to call me a former Marine, I'd be fine with it, because I would be able to understand your meaning.Quoted: Quoted: Drew Carey is a former US Marine. You are never a "former" Marine. What the hell, we can't call them former Marines any longer? BUT, there has been an actual determination by the Commandant, the official term is "Veteran Marine". |
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This should not be surprising to those of us old enough to have that generation as parents. They served in large numbers. Defeated and crushed the enemies of freedom and then returned home to undertake great careers and lead this nation to it's greatest period of prosperity ever. They had grown up in the depression, they did not know how to whine about material things, they just knew that after defeating the Japs and Krauts, everything else was a lesser achievement. there's something to be said about situations where you had to put your head down and get it done, otherwise you might not make it. today because of the 'safety net' you can slack off and live like a hog at a trough if you dont give a damn. hard times seem to make better citizens that easy times. the truth is out there for everyone to see, but no one has the guts to deal with the reality. when all the wwII folks are gone there will be a great loss in this nation and a few others. |
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Drew Carey is a former US Marine. You are never a "former" Marine. What the hell, we can't call them former Marines any longer? I was never a Marine, but I have always been told that saying "Former Marine" was proper for a person no longer serving. That's what I was saying, not too long ago I remember on this website no less someone saying so-and-so was an ex-Marine, and damn near every post after that was "FORMER MARINE, there are no ex-Marines!. For YEARS it's been that way... guess this is the rule now. Quoted:
BUT, there has been an actual determination by the Commandant, the official term is "Veteran Marine". Well there you go, "so it is written, so shall it be done" |
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Christopher Lee from the Lord of the Rings trilogy..
Lee volunteered to fight for the Finnish forces during the Winter War against the Soviet Union in 1939; however, he along with other British volunteers were kept away from actual fighting, although he was issued winter gear and was posted on guard duty a safe distance from the frontlines. He went on to serve in the Royal Air Force and intelligence services during World War II, including serving as an Intelligence officer with the Long Range Desert Group. He trained in South Africa as a pilot, but eyesight problems forced him to drop out. He eventually ended up in North Africa as Cipher Officer for No. 260 Squadron RAF and was with it through Sicily and Italy. Additionally, he has mentioned (including in his audio commentary on the Lord of the Rings DVD) serving in Special Operations Executive. Lee retired from the RAF after the end of the War with the rank of Flight Lieutenant.
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This should not be surprising to those of us old enough to have that generation as parents. They served in large numbers. Defeated and crushed the enemies of freedom and then returned home to undertake great careers and lead this nation to it's greatest period of prosperity ever. They had grown up in the depression, they did not know how to whine about material things, they just knew that after defeating the Japs and Krauts, everything else was a lesser achievement. Well, they did put a man on the Moon for an encore too! |
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That's what I was saying, not too long ago I remember on this website no less someone saying so-and-so was an ex-Marine, and damn near every post after that was "FORMER MARINE, there are no ex-Marines!. For YEARS it's been that way... guess this is the rule now. I always heard that EX-Marine had a negative connotation to it. Such as they got kicked out or something like that. I like the sound of Veteran Marine. Quoted:
Well, they did put a man men on the Moon for an encore too! Heck, Buzz Aldrin is a MiG killer. |
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George Carlin was in the USAF for 2-3 years I think.
Arnold Schwarzenegger was in the Austrian Army as a tanker. |
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Buddy Ebsen, Sid Caesar, Alan Hale Jr., Caesar Romero, Victor Mature and Jack Dempsey were all Coasties.
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I can think of only two examples of ex-Marines.
John "murderers" Murtha... and my chief. |
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Mr. Rogers was a Navy SEAL in 'Nam! He wore long sleeves to hide his tats.
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Mr. Rogers was a Navy SEAL in 'Nam! He wore long sleeves to hide his tats. ah beat to it. |
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