SwiftVets.com

[Mary Ann Parker]

I know. I know. It is scuttlebutt.
I just thought some "geezers" would smile and remember.
Hollywood did have real patriots at one time.
FYI
Mary Ann

Whatever Happened To WWII Movie Stars?

Hope you find this as informative as I did
Be sure and scroll to the very bottom.

In contrast to the ideals, opinions and feelings of
today's "Hollywonk" the real actors of yesteryear loved the United
States.
They had both class and integrity. With the advent of
World War 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 2003" have been
in all of the news media lately I would like to remind the people of
what the entertainers of 1943 were doing, (60 years ago).
Most of these brave men have since passed on.

Real Hollywood Heroes

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.

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 W.W.II 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 yesteryear saying they hate our flag, making antiwar speeches,
marching in anti-American parades and saying they hate our president?
I thought not.

_________________
The bad news is time flies. The good new is, you're the pilot. -- Michael
Althsuler

[Woodrow]

Their are few true hollyweird stars today. The only bright spot to all of this is to check out the USO site and see who is going over to entertain our troops. jmho

[mtboone]

Pat Tillman

God Bless and may he Rest in Peace.
_________________
Terry Boone PCF 90
Qui Nhon 68-69

[Ladder Yankee 33]

The emphasis is on MOVIE STARS

Todays crop of imposters can't act their way out of a wet paper bag.

They rely on sex, special effects, sex, computer animation, sex, and did I mention sex

If a scene last more than 5 seconds, they and the audience gets bored.

Plot? Forget it. ACTION and SEX sells.

I guess they give us what we ask for.
_________________
"Win the Delta Come Hell or High Water!"
RivDiv11, RAS111, T-111-9, RM3 11/68-11/69

[Guest]

[JannDallas]

And even though he didn't serve in the Armed Forces, he was a very big part of our Armed Forces and for more than one war and one cause, who can forget the great Patriot, Bob Hope.

[GIaunt]

Tom Hanks may be a liberal, but he's been married to the same lady for years.... Let's not lump him in with the current crop of shallow Hals...

(btw - He's not a descendent of Abraham Lincoln, he's a distant cousin..
Abraham Lincoln's Mother was Nancy Hanks.....)

I remember reciting a poen about her...

"If Nancy Hanks came back as a ghost, seeking news of what she loved most..."

[LewWaters]

Thanks to the left, we no longer have heroes, just victims.
_________________
Clark County Conservative

[stylin19]

Not a BIG movie star,(not a movie star before the war, either) but let's not forget Harold Russell.
He won two Oscors for the same role in the same movie.
(Don't forget ...Audie Murphy wasn't a movie star until after the war)

Here's a nice site http://www.jodavidsmeyer.com/combat/military/actors_in_wwii.html
_________________
U.S.M.C. - 1969-1971
RVN- 1970-1971

[arkadyfolkner]