Take a look at some of the most famous entertainers of the 20th Century who put their life on hold to serve their country during WWII.
Can you name all 7 of these men in uniform? Scroll down for the answers!
ANSWERS:
1. Paul Newman served in the United States Navy during WWII. He wanted to be a V-12 pilot, but was disqualified for being colorblind. Newman fought in the pacific theater as an Aviation Radioman Third Class on board torpedo bombers.
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2. Tony Curtis joined the United States Navy after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He fought in the pacific theater as part of a submarine force on board the USS Proteus. Curtis witnessed teh Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay from the signal bridge of his ship.
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3. Jimmy Stewart was already a certified private and commercial pilot before joining the United States Armed Forces. Stewart was drafted into the Army but was rejected for failing to meet the weight requirements. Determined to serve his country, Stewart trained with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s Don Loomis until he was fit enough to enlist with the Air Corps. In March of 1941 Stewart became the first major Hollywood actor to join the armed forces in WWII. Stewart served in the United States Army and then the United States Air Force from 1941 to 1968 and retired with the rank of Brigadier General.
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4. Henry Fonda joined the United States Navy after helping Jimmy Stewart raise funds for the defense of Britain. He was famously quoted saying “I don’t want to be in a fake war in a studio.” Fonda served as a Quartermaster 3rd Class on board the destroyer USS Satterlee and would eventually be commissioned as a Lieutenant Junior Grade.
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5. Johnny Carson joined the United States Navy just a few month before his 18th birthday and studied to become an officer at the V-12 Navy College Training Program with Columbia University. Carson was commissioned as an ensign and assigned to the USS Pennsylvania in the Pacific theater. Carson discovered he had a knack for entertaining while performing a card trick for the notoriously cranky Secretary of the Navy, James V. Forrestal.
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6. Rod Serling enlisted in the United States Army the morning after his high school graduation in 1943. He served in the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment and the 11th Airborne Division and earned the rank of technician fourth grade. Serling, who hoped to battle Hitler, was disappointed when he was sent to the Pacific and fought in the Battle of Leyte. His combat experiences would influence both his writing and politics for the rest of his life. He famously said “I was bitter about everything and at loose ends when I got out of the service. I think I turned to writing to get it off my chest.”
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7. Mickey Rooney was inducted into the United States Army as a radio personality to entertain American troops. For just under 2 years, Rooney served as a combat zone entertainer earning a Bronze Star for his efforts.
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8. Audie Murphy may be the most decorated American soldier of the entire second World War. He wanted to be a soldier all his life, but was rejected from the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps for being underweight and under age. Only after his sister helped him falsify his birth year was Murphy able to joint the United States Army in 1942. Murphy would go on to see combat in both the Mediterranean and European theaters where he earned dozens of service medals including the Medal of Honor when he seized control of a machine gun and faced an entire company of German infantry. When asked why he did something so risky, Murphy famously said “They were killing my friends.”
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