Movie action heroes who actually served in the military

[whitehall]

Eddie Heinberger known as Eddie Albert played a cowardly Army officer in the movie "Attack" but he was actually a decorated Coast Guard WW2 hero. Lee Marvin who played a string of quirky roles was a Marine, wounded on Saipan. James Garner was wounded in action in Korea. James Stewart was a combat pilot. Duke Wayne didn't serve.

 

[TroglocratsRdumb]

Joe Biden was injured during the Vietnam War when he fell off of a barstool in Scranton.

 

[Harry Dresden]

we all know about Audie Murphy.....Charles Bronson served too....so did Neville Brand....

 

[whitehall]

Lee Ermey who portrayed the Drill Instructor in FMJ (still gives me nightmares) actually served in Vietnam in the Marines.

 

[Ringel05]

Mel Brooks was a combat engineer during WWII, ETO, he was a corporal.
Bea Arthur kept her service a secret but was found the she served in the Marines during WWII, obviously stateside. She was honorably discharged in 1945 as a Staff Sgt.
James Earl Jones was an Army officer during Korea, he eventually resigned his commission to pursue a career in intertainment.
Harry Dean Stanton followed his Navy lifer uncles advice and joined the Navy as a cook on a supply ship the "safest position to be in"....... He was assigned duty aboard the LST 970 which took part in the invasion of Okinawa. Since they did double duty as a tank carrier and a weapons supply ship they were always targets for the Japanese.

 

[daveman]

Adam Driver (Kylo Ren (Han Solo's son in some of the Star Wars movies), was a mortarman in the weapons platoon with 1st Battalion, 1st Marines at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

100 actors who served in the military

Many of those listed I didn't know had served.

 

[okfine]

Joe Biden was injured during the Vietnam War when he fell off of a barstool in Scranton.

And "Sargeant Bone Spurs" Trump lied not to enter service. Isn't he your "movie" star?

 

[whitehall]

And "Sargeant Bone Spurs" Trump lied not to enter service. Isn't he your "movie" star?

Bill Clinton came the closest to being indicted as a draft dodger when he lied to his draft board about joining the reserves and lied to the reserves. Obama might have been registered for the draft in his homeland Indonesian army. Who knows?

 

[AZrailwhale]

Eddie Heinberger known as Eddie Albert played a cowardly Army officer in the movie "Attack" but he was actually a decorated Coast Guard WW2 hero. Lee Marvin who played a string of quirky roles was a Marine, wounded on Saipan. James Garner was wounded in action in Korea. James Stewart was a combat pilot. Duke Wayne didn't serve.

My understanding is that Wayne wanted to serve, but the head of Republic Pictures, who held his contract, threatened to sue him into oblivion if Wayne enlisted.

 

[AZrailwhale]

And "Sargeant Bone Spurs" Trump lied not to enter service. Isn't he your "movie" star?

Bone spurs aren't something you can lie about. A simple X-Ray shows them, and they are an automatic disqualifier. I was almost discharged because I developed a bone spur while I was on active duty, but was able to sweet talk a doctor into giving me an exemption because they were not giving me any pain.

 

[whitehall]

My understanding is that Wayne wanted to serve, but the head of Republic Pictures, who held his contract, threatened to sue him into oblivion if Wayne enlisted.

It seems that Wayne claimed sole support o his family and then divorced his wife when the exemption came through.

 

[Flopper]

we all know about Audie Murphy.....Charles Bronson served too....so did Neville Brand....

Audie Murphy was probably the most decorated actor to serve. He received the Medal of Honor for valor that he demonstrated at the age of 19 for single-handedly holding off a company of German soldiers for an hour at the Colmar Pocket in France in January 1945, and then leading a successful counterattack while wounded and out of ammunition.

 

[Flopper]

Clark Gable's military service was probably one of the most interesting of any actor.

Clark Gable was a Hollywood icon and one of the most popular male sex symbols of the 1930s. He was officially crowned by Ed Sullivan as “The King of Hollywood”. He was adored by his fans which included Adolph Hitler.

Gable’s life changed forever when his beloved wife Carole Lombard died in a plane crash on January 16, 1942. She was killed in the crash of a DC-3 airliner on her way home from a war bonds tour and was declared to be the first war-related American female casualty of World War II. Gable was never the same again. He was emotionally devastated and started drinking heavily. He thought that joining the army would help him recover and decided to write a telegram to President Franklin D. Roosevelt asking him for a role in the war effort. Roosevelt advised him to stay in the United States, but Gable was determined to join the army.

Gable enlisted into the U.S. Army Air Corps on August 12, 1942, as a gunner. He completed the 13-week training and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. At the time, the US Air Force needed a propaganda film that would help to recruit gunners so Gable was assigned to go to Britain to make a film entitled Combat America.

When the Germans were informed that Gable was in Britain, they immediately announced they would be seeing him soon in Germany, hoping that they will manage to capture him. But Gable was not an easy target. He took part in many combat missions and almost lost his life during one bombing raid in Germany, but the Nazis were never able to capture him.

Hitler was frustrated that the Germans weren’t able to capture Gable alive and directed Hermann Goering to offer a reward to any pilot who could shoot Gable down. The information that there was a price on his head was depressing to Gable and he was afraid that the Germans might capture him, put him in a cage like a gorilla, and send him on a tour of Germany.

However, he was never captured and eventually was promoted to major. During his service, he earned the Air Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and World War II Victory Medal.

He was granted a discharge on June 12, 1944, at his request, and came back to the United States where he continued his reign as “The King of Hollywood.”

Hitler Put Out a Reward to Anyone Who Could Capture Clark Gable & Bring Back Alive

 

[Flopper]

It seems that Wayne claimed sole support o his family and then divorced his wife when the exemption came through.

In a biography of his life it was reveal that Wayne believed if he every went into combat he would not survive. In spite of his fear of combat, he talked to John Ford about joining, his mentor and friend had signed up and would be making films for the army. Ford thought Wayne should sign up and he could get him into his unit. However Republic Pictures had essential lost every major male star and was desperate to keep Wayne. They promised him a number of war films which would make him a top star in Hollywood as well as a war hero without ever serving. Republic was rumored to have pulled some strings to keep Wayne out of the service.