thedrifter
02-23-09, 08:30 AM
February 22, 2009
Actors once were war heroes — real ones
Bob Terrell
Hollywood fought World War II in many places other than on the silver screen. Some say that many of today's movie stars frown on the military and disapprove of the smaller wars we've been fighting in recent years. But in WWII, dozens of movie actors took active parts within the military, and among them they earned more than 70 medals, reaching down from the Congressional Medal of Honor to the Service Cross.
I can't begin to list them all, but here are a few worth remembering.
One Hollywood star who saw much service against the enemy was James Stewart, one of Hollywood's outstanding actors. As a bomber pilot, he flew more than 20 missions over Germany. Having entered the Army Air Force as a private, he worked his way up to the rank of colonel. Besides those 20 missions, he flew hundreds of other air strikes over foreign soil. At the end of the war he remained in the AAF reserve and rose to the rank of brigadier general before retiring in the late 1950s.
Mega movie star Clark Gable also entered the AAF as a private, rising eventually to the rank of captain. With the 351{+s}{+t} Bomb Group in England, he flew many missions over Europe in B-17s and in 1944 was released from service because he was overage for combat.
Charlton Heston, who directed the Community Theater in Asheville for a season in 1947, was an AAC sergeant. Ernest Borgnine was a U.S. Navy gunners mate from 1935-1945. Charles Durning landed on Normandy as an Army ranger and earned the Silver Star and Purple Heart in combat.
Charles Bronson, a Hollywood tough guy, was also tough in the war. He was a tail gunner on U.S. bombers flying out of Guam, Tinian, and Saipan on missions against the Japanese.
George C. Scott was a decorated U. S. Marine. Eddie Albert was given a Bronze Star for heroic action as a Naval officer aiding marines in the bloody battle for the Pacific island of Tarawa against the Japanese. Brian Keith was a Marine rear gunner in several actions against the Japanese on Rabal.
And Lee Marvin was a Marine in the Pacific battle of Saipan, where he was wounded and awarded the Purple Heart.
John Russell received a battlefield commission and was wounded and highly decorated for valor on Guadalcanal. Robert Ryan served with the Marines as an OSS in Yugoslavia. And Tyrone Power was a Marine Corps pilot who flew supplies into Iwo Jima and Okinawa, then flew wounded Marines out to military hospitals.
Tough? Yes, sir, every one of them. But the toughest was probably Audie Murphy, who at 5-feet-5 and 110 pounds became one of the most decorated servicemen in World War II. He earned the Congressional Medal of Honor as an infantryman in Europe, then added to it the Distinguished Service Cross, two Silver Stars, the Legion of Merit, two Bronze Stars with four stars, representing his fighting in nine major campaigns, the Combat Infantry Badge, the French Croix de Guerre with Silver Star and Palm, the French Legion of Honor, the Belgian Croix de Guerre with Palm, and 15 or 20 other medals.
After the war, Hollywood sought him out and made a movie, in which he starred, about his combat in Europe, and then made him a cowboy movie star.
Those were the combat accomplishments of a handful of Hollywood actors, and there were plenty more who did their part to win the war, but space does not permit their mention.
There were also many British film stars who made American movies who were heroes of the war, including Alec Guinness, who operated a British landing draft into Normandy on D-Day; James Doohan, who landed at Normandy on D-Day and fought through France; Donald Pleasance, an RAF pilot who was shot down, imprisoned and tortured by the Germans; and David Niven, a lieutenant Colonel of the British Commandos in Normandy.
This is the opinion of Bob Terrell.
Contact him at 712-6589 or
bobterrell5@gmail.com
Ellie
Actors once were war heroes — real ones
Bob Terrell
Hollywood fought World War II in many places other than on the silver screen. Some say that many of today's movie stars frown on the military and disapprove of the smaller wars we've been fighting in recent years. But in WWII, dozens of movie actors took active parts within the military, and among them they earned more than 70 medals, reaching down from the Congressional Medal of Honor to the Service Cross.
I can't begin to list them all, but here are a few worth remembering.
One Hollywood star who saw much service against the enemy was James Stewart, one of Hollywood's outstanding actors. As a bomber pilot, he flew more than 20 missions over Germany. Having entered the Army Air Force as a private, he worked his way up to the rank of colonel. Besides those 20 missions, he flew hundreds of other air strikes over foreign soil. At the end of the war he remained in the AAF reserve and rose to the rank of brigadier general before retiring in the late 1950s.
Mega movie star Clark Gable also entered the AAF as a private, rising eventually to the rank of captain. With the 351{+s}{+t} Bomb Group in England, he flew many missions over Europe in B-17s and in 1944 was released from service because he was overage for combat.
Charlton Heston, who directed the Community Theater in Asheville for a season in 1947, was an AAC sergeant. Ernest Borgnine was a U.S. Navy gunners mate from 1935-1945. Charles Durning landed on Normandy as an Army ranger and earned the Silver Star and Purple Heart in combat.
Charles Bronson, a Hollywood tough guy, was also tough in the war. He was a tail gunner on U.S. bombers flying out of Guam, Tinian, and Saipan on missions against the Japanese.
George C. Scott was a decorated U. S. Marine. Eddie Albert was given a Bronze Star for heroic action as a Naval officer aiding marines in the bloody battle for the Pacific island of Tarawa against the Japanese. Brian Keith was a Marine rear gunner in several actions against the Japanese on Rabal.
And Lee Marvin was a Marine in the Pacific battle of Saipan, where he was wounded and awarded the Purple Heart.
John Russell received a battlefield commission and was wounded and highly decorated for valor on Guadalcanal. Robert Ryan served with the Marines as an OSS in Yugoslavia. And Tyrone Power was a Marine Corps pilot who flew supplies into Iwo Jima and Okinawa, then flew wounded Marines out to military hospitals.
Tough? Yes, sir, every one of them. But the toughest was probably Audie Murphy, who at 5-feet-5 and 110 pounds became one of the most decorated servicemen in World War II. He earned the Congressional Medal of Honor as an infantryman in Europe, then added to it the Distinguished Service Cross, two Silver Stars, the Legion of Merit, two Bronze Stars with four stars, representing his fighting in nine major campaigns, the Combat Infantry Badge, the French Croix de Guerre with Silver Star and Palm, the French Legion of Honor, the Belgian Croix de Guerre with Palm, and 15 or 20 other medals.
After the war, Hollywood sought him out and made a movie, in which he starred, about his combat in Europe, and then made him a cowboy movie star.
Those were the combat accomplishments of a handful of Hollywood actors, and there were plenty more who did their part to win the war, but space does not permit their mention.
There were also many British film stars who made American movies who were heroes of the war, including Alec Guinness, who operated a British landing draft into Normandy on D-Day; James Doohan, who landed at Normandy on D-Day and fought through France; Donald Pleasance, an RAF pilot who was shot down, imprisoned and tortured by the Germans; and David Niven, a lieutenant Colonel of the British Commandos in Normandy.
This is the opinion of Bob Terrell.
Contact him at 712-6589 or
bobterrell5@gmail.com
Ellie