Burgess Meredith, WWII, USAF (1942-1945)

Burgess Meredith, WWII, USAF (1942-1945)

Burgess Meredith (1942-1945)

Already an established actor, on 27 Feb 1942, Burgess put his career on hold during and joined the United States Army Air Corps, where he eventually reached the rank of Captain. He transferred to the Office of War Information and was involved in making films for GIs. He was discharged in 1945 to work on the movie The Story of G.I. Joe, in which he starred as the popular war correspondent…


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Michael Caine, Korean War, Royal Fusilliers (1951-1953)

Michael Caine, Korean War, Royal Fusilliers (1951-1953)

Michael Caine (1951-1953)

After the war, the British Government started a program in which every 18 year old boy was required to complete their National Service. In 1951 Michael joined the Queens Royal Regiment and the Royal Fusiliers and served first in Germany and ultimately during the Korean conflict….


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Johnny Carson, WWII, US Navy (1943-1946)

Johnny Carson, WWII, US Navy (1943-1946)

Johnny Carson (1943-1946)

Admitted to the U.S. Navy's V-12 officer training program in 1943 as an apprentice seaman Johnny Carson hoped to train as a pilot, but was sent instead to Columbia University for midshipman training. Commissioned as an ensign in 1945, he reported for duty aboard the USS Pennsylvania on Aug. 14…

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Norman Fell, WWII, USAF (1943- 1946)

Norman Fell, WWII, USAF (1943- 1946)

Norman Fell (1943-1946)

There is very little published information about Norman Noah Feld's (Norman Fell) time in the US Air Force.  We do know he served as a tail gunner in the World War II Pacific theater. After his service was complete, he enrolled and studied drama at Temple University.  During his long television and film career, Fell played a few choice parts in military films including Catch-22PT 109and Pork Chop Hill.

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Humphrey Bogart, WWI, US Navy (1918-1919)

Humphrey Bogart, WWI, US Navy (1918-1919)

Humphrey Bogart (1918-1919)

This hard-boiled actor, with an admirable anti-hero quality, had plenty of true life experience in the military to bring an authenticity to his performances in movies like Casablanca and The Caine Mutiny.

In the spring of 1918, Bogart left, or was asked to leave, prep school to serve in the U.S. Navy…

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Sammy Davis Jr., WWII, US Army (1944)

Sammy Davis Jr., WWII, US Army (1944)

Sammy Davis, Jr. (1944)

Davis was drafted into the US Army in 1944, when was eighteen, and his experiences were not happy ones. When he arrived for basic training he saw a PFC sitting on the steps of the barracks.  He walked over to him and said, "Excuse me, buddy.  I'm a little lost.  Can you tell me where 202 is?  The man jerked his head back and said "Two buildings down and I'm not your buddy, you black bastard!"

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James Doohan, WWI, Royal Canadian Army (1938-1945)

James Doohan, WWI, Royal Canadian Army (1938-1945)

James Doohan (1938-1945)

Star Trek’s loveable engineer Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, AKA James Doohan, attended high school at the Sarnia Collegiate Institute and Technical School (SCITS) in Ontario, Canada where he excelled in mathematics and science. His proficiency in these areas prompted him to join the 102nd Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps in 1938.

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Adolphe Menjou, WWI, US Army (1917-1919)

Adolphe Menjou, WWI, US Army (1917-1919)

Adolphe Jean Menjou (1917-1919)

In 1906, young Menjou's father, a hotel manager, disapproved of his boy's early interest in show business and him to Culver Military Academy in Indiana for his senior year of high school in the hopes of dissuading him from such a reckless and disreputable career.  He went on to Cornell University where he graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering and returned to his early interest of stage and screen work. World War I interrupted his fledgling career and he enlisted in to the US Army Ambulance Service in June of 1917. 

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Desmond Llewelyn, WWII, British Army (1939-1945)

Desmond Llewelyn, WWII, British Army (1939-1945)

Desmond Wilkenson Llewelyn (1939-1945)

With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, a 25 year old Desmond Llewelyn took a break from his stage career and joined the British Army. He was soon commissioned a second lieutenant, serving in the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Deployed to France with the British Expeditionary Force, he was captured in the massive German attack on France in May-June 1940, and spent the remainder of the war as a…

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