George Gobel, WWII, US Army Air Corps (1940s)

George Gobel, WWII, US Army Air Corps (1940s)

George Gobel (1940s)

You know him as a comedian and comedic actor who rose to fame in the 1950s with his television variety show and his character "Lonesome George". After graduating high school in Chicago, Gobel was working as a DJ in St Louis when WWII came calling. George served in the United States Army Air Forces as a flight instructor in AT-9 aircraft at Altus, Oklahoma…

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Larry Flynt Jr, US Army (1958), US Navy (1960-1964)

Larry Flynt Jr, US Army (1958), US Navy (1960-1964)

Larry Flynt, Jr (1958, 1960-1964)

Seems Larry Flynt, son of a WWII veteran, was never one for following rules yet always one for championing his personal sense of right and wrong. At the age of 15, he used a false birth certificate to enlist in the US Army. After spending a year amongst the ranks, he was discharged due to low test scores. When Flynt enlisted in the United States Navy in July 1960…

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Conway Twitty, US Army (1954-1956)

Conway Twitty, US Army (1954-1956)

Conway Twitty (1954-1956)

Harold Lloyd Jenkins (AKA Conway Twitty) was first drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies after high school before being drafted once again into the US Army. While stationed in Japan, he kept both his dreams alive by forming a band and playing on the local Army baseball team. His first band, the Fuji Mountain Boys represented their Yokohama unit and won the 1954 All-Army Talent Competition.

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Rocky Marciano, WWII, US Army (1943-1946)

Rocky Marciano, WWII, US Army (1943-1946)

Rocky Marciano (1943-1946)

Rocky Marciano, Rocco Francis Marchegiano, the real Rocky if you ask me, dropped out of high school after the tenth grade to work and help support his family in a variety of jobs — washing dishes, gardening and working both a candy and a shoe factory. On March 4, 1943, at the age of 20, Rocky enlisted the Army  in Boston, Massachusetts and was sent overseas to Europe.


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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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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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