WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WW II MOVIE STARS?

[myshelf]

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WW II MOVIE STARS?

Here's where they were during the war.
Hope you find this as informative as I did, be sure to scroll to the bottom.



In contrast to the ideals, opinions and feelings of today's "Hollywonk" the real actors of yester-year loved the United States.

They had both class and integrity. 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.

So remember; while the "Entertainers of 2004" have been in all of the news media lately I would like to remind the people of what the entertainers of 1943 were doing, (61 years ago).

Most of these brave men have since passed on.


Be sure to read the VERY last guy....Audie Murphy... A True Texan...



Real Hollywood Heros

Alec Guinness (Star Wars) operated a British Royal Navy landing craft on D-Day.

James Doohan ("Scotty" on Star Trek) landed in Normandy with the U. S. Army on D-Day.

Donald Pleasance (The Great Escape) really was an R. A. F. pilot who was shot down,

held prisoner and tortured by the Germans.

David Niven was a Sandhurst graduate and Lt. Colonel of the British Commandos in Normandy.

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 de 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 1950s.

[myshelf]

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' CandidateSchool 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.

Earnest Borgnine was a U. S. Navy Gunners Mate 1935-1945.

Charles Durning was a U. S. Army Ranger at Normandy earning a Silver Star and awarded the Purple Heart.

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

George C. Scott was a decorated U. S. Marine.

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.

Brian Keith served as a U.S. Marine rear gunner in several actions against the Japanese on Rabal in the Pacific.

Lee Marvin was a U.S. Marine on Saipan during the Marianas campaign when he was wounded earning the Purple Heart.

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.

Robert Ryan was a U. S. Marine who served with the O. S. S. in Yugoslavia.

Tyrone Power (an established movie star when Pearl Harbor was bombed) joined the U.S. Marines, was a pilot flying supplies into, and wounded Marines out of, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

Audie Murphy, little 5'5" tall 110 pound guy from 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.

So how do you feel the real heroes of the silver screen acted when compared to the hollywonks today who spray out anti-American drivel as they bite the hand that feeds them? Can you imagine these stars of yester-year saying they hate our flag, making anti-war speeches, marching in anti-American parades and saying they hate our president?

I thought not, neither did I!

If you enjoyed the story send it on.

[BFMF]

Very interesting....

[ChuckMajik]

I'm pretty sure Doohan landed on Juno Beach with the Canadian corps on D-Day.

[myshelf]

I'm pretty sure Doohan landed on Juno Beach with the Canadian corps on D-Day.

can't say i saw him there

[RitterKreuz]

The professor in the television show

[ozzy72]

Quite a few on that list are British I note
Doohan did indeed land with the Canadian forces on D-Day, he also went on to crash an aircraft on the same beech a couple of weeks later and walk away from the wreck

[Flt.Lt.Andrew]

True true, and its good to see old school values coming through. The last thing you say is a bit hazy though. Those men fought ( and in some cases died)  for the values of free speech and the fact that you wouldnt have to go to war again any time soon. It is a bit dodgy to imply that the actors of now are bad because they dont like the President (they dont have to, and they didnt vote for him)  and they can argue for not going to war as well, as that right is theirs.


A.

[ozzy72]

Well said Andrew and a very valid point
Freedom of speech is something people in most countries enjoy. We should do our best to help spread these freedoms and rights that so many men gave their lives for, however certain recent wars have a very dubious basis...... I can think of half a dozen off the top of my head where good men have given their lives to justify some morons ego.... some stuff never changes huh?

[BFMF]

Didn't a lot of those people on your list become actors AFTER the war?

[ozzy72]

I think it would be more fair to say Andrew that they became REALLY famous after the war...

[myshelf]

[quote]True true, and its good to see old school values coming through. The last thing you say is a bit hazy though. Those men fought ( and in some cases died)

[Flt.Lt.Andrew]

You make a fair point, myshelf....I feel strange, I've only heard of Guiness and Audie Murphy (and that was in a Leo Kessler- Charles Whiting- book)


A.

[H]

many decent people stated their opinion that the united states should stay out of the war in the dawn of WW II, yet after pearl harbor they did what they saw as their duty, to take up arms and end the war soon as possible.

It should be remembered that the U.S. had the very same stance in WW1 and look what happened -- drawn in, anyway. It's very difficult not to be involved when your very constituents have ancestral roots and relatives with all who are already involved. Isolationism just didn't seem to work.. now it's nigh impossible for it to even exist!

[Hagar]

As others have pointed out I find this somewhat contradictory. [quote]In contrast to the ideals, opinions and feelings of today's "Hollywonk" the real actors of yester-year loved the United States.