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re: World War 2 soldiers who went on to be famous
Posted on 5/8/22 at 11:57 pm to fool_on_the_hill
Posted on 5/8/22 at 11:57 pm to fool_on_the_hill
Charles Durning, who you might recognize as Governor Pappy O'Daniel in O Brother where art thou?
Was awarded a silver star, bronze star, and 3 purple hearts storming the beaches in Normandy and fighting in the battle of the bulge as an infantryman.
Was awarded a silver star, bronze star, and 3 purple hearts storming the beaches in Normandy and fighting in the battle of the bulge as an infantryman.
1
Posted on 5/9/22 at 12:03 am to indytiger
quote:At one point was in the same outfit as Mickey Rooney (then one of H'wood's top stars)
Charles Durning, who you might recognize as Governor Pappy O'Daniel in O Brother where art thou?
Was awarded a silver star, bronze star, and 3 purple hearts storming the beaches in Normandy and fighting in the battle of the bulge as an infantryman.
Claimed Rooney paid him to take his KP duty
Posted on 5/9/22 at 12:06 am to White Roach
quote:
Audie Murphy
His story is one of the stories told in a great new book called Against All Odds by Kershaw.
Arkansas fans would recognize another account in this book—-Footsie Britt
This post was edited on 5/9/22 at 12:14 am
Posted on 5/9/22 at 12:32 am to Ham And Glass
Johnny Carson
quote:
Commissioned an ensign late in the war, Carson was assigned to the USS Pennsylvania in the Pacific. While in the Navy, Carson posted a 10–0 amateur boxing record, with most of his bouts fought on board the Pennsylvania.
J.D Salinger, author of The Catcher In The Rye
This post was edited on 5/9/22 at 12:37 am
Posted on 5/9/22 at 12:38 am to West Palm Tiger561
quote:was stationed in Jackson MS and attended Millsaps
Johnny Carson
Posted on 5/9/22 at 1:00 am to Bamafig
quote:
Jimmy Stewart
Was already a movie star and declined being given a bullshite job in the war and flew B-24s. Continued to serve in the reserves after the war and flew B36/B47/B52s. Retired as a Brigadier General.
Jimmy Stewart was a great American.
Posted on 5/9/22 at 1:08 am to Kafka
Those were some dreamy frickin eyes no homo
Edit: just read he was color blind though, go figure
This post was edited on 5/9/22 at 1:12 am
Posted on 5/9/22 at 1:10 am to fool_on_the_hill
They had the draft back then so its hardly surprising that so many served. Virtually every able bodied male was conscripted.
Posted on 5/9/22 at 2:38 am to O P Walker
Almost every major young sports star in the early-mid 50s was a vet. You know when you meet these guys there's just a different aura to them. I met Bob Feller at an autograph signing and he pissed off his Gen Z show handlers because instead of the standard 10 seconds of diving and a quick selfie, he gave just about everyone what felt like forever. The guy in front of me had one of his old hats and they talked for a good 2 minutes. We talked and I learned how much he loathed the people wanting to get rid of the Indians name/logo.
A couple years ago at the NRA convention there was a little old man at a table selling a book. I passed by twice before going back on the last day. The book was about those on Tinian Island before and after the bombings. I always shake hands, look then in the eye, and say TYFYS whenever I meet that generation of vets. The guy at the table was one of the guys on the ground who made sure the planes were full of fuel and maintained well. I got home and the front page of the book was just full of signatures. It's sad that they were our last great generation who still commanded respect but also returned the favor. I get that boomers got jaded by Vietnam but they started the "snowball" which has brought us to the current degenerate generation who don't even comprehend respect for those who came before them.
A couple years ago at the NRA convention there was a little old man at a table selling a book. I passed by twice before going back on the last day. The book was about those on Tinian Island before and after the bombings. I always shake hands, look then in the eye, and say TYFYS whenever I meet that generation of vets. The guy at the table was one of the guys on the ground who made sure the planes were full of fuel and maintained well. I got home and the front page of the book was just full of signatures. It's sad that they were our last great generation who still commanded respect but also returned the favor. I get that boomers got jaded by Vietnam but they started the "snowball" which has brought us to the current degenerate generation who don't even comprehend respect for those who came before them.
Posted on 5/9/22 at 3:27 am to MSUDawg98
MSU dawg98
That was the best post on this thread. The last sentence is especially true. But the Boomer starting the snowball, just some of them. Most not.
That was the best post on this thread. The last sentence is especially true. But the Boomer starting the snowball, just some of them. Most not.
Posted on 5/9/22 at 3:36 am to MSUDawg98
A friend of mine was in a bookstore in Shreveport several years ago and saw an older gentleman sitting there with a stack of books, obviously a poorly publicized and/or poorly attended book signing. He stopped, said hello, and spent the next two hours talking to Ens. George Gay, sole survivor of VT-8 at Midway.
Posted on 5/9/22 at 3:56 am to fool_on_the_hill
quote:Jackie Robinson was an officer in a segregated unit. Stateside duty Calvary unit. Never called up.
World War 2 soldiers who went on to be famous
Harry Belafonte. NAVY.
Medgar Evers fought in the Battle of Normandy. Sergeant when he was discharged.
Posted on 5/9/22 at 4:20 am to sugar71
Chuck Conners "joined the United States Army following America's entrance into World War II.[5][6] During most of the war, he served as a tank-warfare instructor at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and later at West Point in New York."
After the war, he played a few year of Baseball, then a few in the NBA, before deciding to go to Hollywood and be a star.
After the war, he played a few year of Baseball, then a few in the NBA, before deciding to go to Hollywood and be a star.
Posted on 5/9/22 at 4:30 am to fool_on_the_hill
Dick Winters
The human Captain America
The human Captain America
Posted on 5/9/22 at 4:37 am to fool_on_the_hill
Charles Schultz
He served as a staff sergeant with the 20th Armored Division in Europe during World War II, as a squad leader on a .50 caliber machine gun team. His unit saw combat only at the very end of the war. Schulz said he had only one opportunity to fire his machine gun but forgot to load it, and that the German soldier he could have fired at willingly surrendered.
Andy Rooney
Rooney began his career in newspapers in 1942 while in the Army where he began writing for Stars and Stripes in London. He was one of six correspondents who flew on the second American bombing raid over Germany in February 1943, flying with the Eighth Air Force. He was the first journalist to reach the Ludendorff Bridge after the 9th Armored Division captured it on March 7, 1945. He was 32 km (20 mi) to the west when he heard that the bridge had been captured. "It was a reporter's dream," he wrote. "One of the great stories of the war had fallen into my lap." The bridge capture was front-page news in America. Rooney rated the capture of the bridge as one of the top five events of the entire European war, alongside D-Day.
He was one of the first American journalists to visit the Nazi concentration camps near the end of World War II, and one of the first to write about them. During a segment on Tom Brokaw's The Greatest Generation, Rooney stated that he had been opposed to World War II because he was a pacifist. He recounted that what he saw in those concentration camps made him ashamed that he had opposed the war and permanently changed his opinions about whether "just wars" exist.
He served as a staff sergeant with the 20th Armored Division in Europe during World War II, as a squad leader on a .50 caliber machine gun team. His unit saw combat only at the very end of the war. Schulz said he had only one opportunity to fire his machine gun but forgot to load it, and that the German soldier he could have fired at willingly surrendered.
Andy Rooney
Rooney began his career in newspapers in 1942 while in the Army where he began writing for Stars and Stripes in London. He was one of six correspondents who flew on the second American bombing raid over Germany in February 1943, flying with the Eighth Air Force. He was the first journalist to reach the Ludendorff Bridge after the 9th Armored Division captured it on March 7, 1945. He was 32 km (20 mi) to the west when he heard that the bridge had been captured. "It was a reporter's dream," he wrote. "One of the great stories of the war had fallen into my lap." The bridge capture was front-page news in America. Rooney rated the capture of the bridge as one of the top five events of the entire European war, alongside D-Day.
He was one of the first American journalists to visit the Nazi concentration camps near the end of World War II, and one of the first to write about them. During a segment on Tom Brokaw's The Greatest Generation, Rooney stated that he had been opposed to World War II because he was a pacifist. He recounted that what he saw in those concentration camps made him ashamed that he had opposed the war and permanently changed his opinions about whether "just wars" exist.
Posted on 5/9/22 at 5:04 am to Jim Rockford
It was a travesty that those torpedo bomber pilots and crews were sent out on what amounted to a suicide mission. A defective main weapon, no fighter cover, no smoke screen to shield them, a flat and level approaches at 110 knots to launch a dud torpedo. What a waste of brave men.
I read ENS Gay's book many years ago. I recently read LTjg Dusty Kleiss's book "Never Call Me A Hero" that included his story of the Midway battle. As a member of Scouting Squadron 6, flying a SBD-3 Dauntless, he scored bomb hits on the carriers Kaga and Hiryu, both of which sank. Two days later, he hit the cruiser Mikuma, which also sank. He was awarded the Navy Cross for his action at Midway.
Kleiss goes into some detail about his best friend on Enterprise and member of Torpedo 6, who met the same fate as the members of Torpedo 8. Inspiring, yet a sad story.
I read ENS Gay's book many years ago. I recently read LTjg Dusty Kleiss's book "Never Call Me A Hero" that included his story of the Midway battle. As a member of Scouting Squadron 6, flying a SBD-3 Dauntless, he scored bomb hits on the carriers Kaga and Hiryu, both of which sank. Two days later, he hit the cruiser Mikuma, which also sank. He was awarded the Navy Cross for his action at Midway.
Kleiss goes into some detail about his best friend on Enterprise and member of Torpedo 6, who met the same fate as the members of Torpedo 8. Inspiring, yet a sad story.
Posted on 5/9/22 at 5:29 am to Kafka
quote:
During the filming of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, notoriously irascible director John Ford suddenly called out to John Wayne in front of the cast and crew, "Hey Duke, how much money did you make while Jimmy was risking his life overseas?" Stewart, unfamiliar w/Ford's bizarre sense of humor, cringed in horror. Wayne simply grimaced and shrugged it off.
Ford also served iirc.
Posted on 5/9/22 at 5:34 am to Ponchy Tiger
Jimmy Stewart saw some shite flying bombing missions over Germany. The dude wasn’t the same when he returned to Hollywood. It took him a minute to get back to normal. Which is expected after flying combat missions.
Posted on 5/9/22 at 5:57 am to fool_on_the_hill
Legendary Cowboys head coach Tom Landry, who was a B-17 co-pilot in the 8th Air Force, completing his required 30 combat missions.
This post was edited on 5/9/22 at 5:58 am
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