SwiftVets.com

[Becky]

The Entertainers of 2003 have been in all of the news media of late. It
seems Newspapers, Television and Radio have been more than ready to
put them and their message before the public.

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:

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 DDay.

Donald Pleasance (The Great Escape) really was a 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 flew 20 missions as a B24 pilot in Europe.

Clark Gable (MegaMovie Star when war broke out) was a waist gunner
flying missions on a B17 in Europe.

Charlton Heston was an Army Air Corps Sergeant in Kodiak.

Earnest Borgnine was a U. S. Navy Gunners Mate 19351945.

Charles Durning was a U. S. Army Ranger at Normandy

Charles Bronson was a tail gunner in the Army Air Corps.

George C. Scott was a 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 Marine rear gunner in several actions against the
Japanese on Rabal in the Pacific.

Lee Marvin was a marine on Saipan when he was wounded.

John Russell was a Marine on 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 Marines, was a pilot flying supplies into, and
wounded Marines out of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

Audie Murphy, little guy from Texas, The Most Decorated Serviceman
of WWII.

I wish I had room to tell you more about Actor Sterling Hayden and an
actor by the name of Peter J. Ortiz (Twelve O'clock High, Rio Grande and
The Wings of Eagles), but this would turn into a book.

There is quite a huge gap between the heroics and patriotism in 1943
and the and cowardly despicable posturing of the Hollywood crowd of
today........ all of which smack of sedition and treason.

Think about this every time you are tempted to go to the movies or
go to a concert!!
_________________
“In the beginning of a change the patriot is a
scarce man, and brave, and hated and
scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid
join him, for then it costs nothing to be a
patriot.”
- Mark Twain

[DaveS]

Clark Gable was not a waist gunner during WWII. He flew one mission during the filming of a documentory. Careful what you post.

[Becky]

Hmmm...for those of us that get in a hurry reading, I
guess it's a good thing it's in Geedunk then?

"Hollywood stars Clark Gable and Jimmy Stewart both served in the U.S.
Army Air Corps, dividing their time between appearances in military
documentaries and actual combat. Gable, who decided to enlist after
his wife was killed in a plane crash returning from a war-bond drive,
served with distinction, participating in several bombing raids over Nazi
Germany, rising to the rank of major, and receiving the Air Medal and
Distinguished Flying Cross."http://www.historychannel.com/speeches/archive/speech_502.html

OR

"World War II abruptly interrupted Hollywood's "Golden Age" of the
1930s, sweeping up the actors and actresses who had entertained the
public during that time. One star who typifies those years is Clark Gable.
Gable served in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. Earning a
commission, he produced a motion picture, Combat America, which
focused on the role of the aerial gunners who defended longrange heavy
bombers from enemy fighter attack. Possessed of an earnest vitality and
freshness that still grip viewers decades later, Combat America, one of
many wartime training films that sank into obscurity soon after the war, is
a window into the world of the Eighth Air Force over Nazi Germany. The
film, and Gable's service career, revealed much about him untold in
previous biographies that focused on his career in show business....
Upon hearing of Pearl Harbor, Gable and Lombard offered their services
to the White House, which suggested they continue to make movies.
Gable seemed satisfied to do so, but his strongly patriotic wife suggested
that he enlist in the army and earn a commission. Still hesitant, he
agreed to follow MGM's advice, but Lombard, disdaining the studio's offer
of an appointive commission, proposed they go on a war bond tour.
Gable refused this, but agreed to consider enlistment. Trailed by an MGM
publicist, he went to Washington, D.C., to meet a friend, the head of the
Army Air Forces (AAF), Gen. Henry H. Arnold. Carole started the tour on
January 12, 1942.

General Arnold's pioneering efforts to promote air power had long
included movies. He appeared as a pilot in two films as far back as 1911.
In 1942, he was building up the AAF to fight a world war.

The centerpiece of this buildup was high-altitude daylight precision
strategic bombardment. Such a campaign was built upon the long-range
heavy bomber, defended against enemy fighter attacks by .50 caliber
machine guns. To bring maximum force upon the enemy and replace
combat losses, thousands of such bombers would be needed, each
requiring a crew that included aerial gunners. Fighter escorts of range
sufficient to accompany the bombers were under development, but the
air offensive would not await them.

Just before the U.S. became involved in the war, the War Department
planned to mobilize civilians. Millions of men would have to be trained
quickly and efficiently as combat-ready officers, pilots, aerial gunners,
and other specialists. Understanding film's ability to effectively educate,
persuade, and inspire, as well as to entertain, Arnold asked Warner
Brothers studios to make training films for the AAF. After some successes
with Warner, the AAF formalized the operation by drafting Hal Roach
Studios in its entirety as the First Motion Picture Unit. Seasoned on- and
off-screen talent, brought into uniform straight from Hollywood studios,
staffed and ran the First. Intended for military, not public viewing, the
First's products-covering basic but essential areas like aircraft
recognition, navigation, gunnery, ditching, safety, medical treatment,
interrogation by the enemy, and survival-were intended to bring home
the realities of war to recruits. Famous directors, such as Frank Capra,
who directed the famous Why We Fight series; John Huston, of The Battle
of San Pietro; and William Wyler, of Memphis Belle, worked for the First.
Eventually, the First turned out about 300 standard length films, and
many "shorts," among them movies intended to recruit men for such
specialized aircrew positions and tasks in a modern air force as
bombardier, navigator, reconnaissance pilot, and aerial gunner. The First
itself turned out many such recruiting films. Arnold selected Gable to
produce the one on aerial gunnery. He also hoped Gable would inspire
men to become combat-ready officers through Officers' Candidate School
(OCS)."

Upon hearing of Pearl Harbor, Gable and Lombard offered their services
to the White House, which suggested they continue to make movies.
Gable seemed satisfied to do so, but his strongly patriotic wife suggested
that he enlist in the army and earn a commission. Still hesitant, he
agreed to follow MGM's advice, but Lombard, disdaining the studio's offer
of an appointive commission, proposed they go on a war bond tour.
Gable refused this, but agreed to consider enlistment. Trailed by an MGM
publicist, he went to Washington, D.C., to meet a friend, the head of the
Army Air Forces (AAF), Gen. Henry H. Arnold. Carole started the tour on
January 12, 1942.

General Arnold's pioneering efforts to promote air power had long
included movies. He appeared as a pilot in two films as far back as 1911.
In 1942, he was building up the AAF to fight a world war.

The centerpiece of this buildup was high-altitude daylight precision
strategic bombardment. Such a campaign was built upon the long-range
heavy bomber, defended against enemy fighter attacks by .50 caliber
machine guns. To bring maximum force upon the enemy and replace
combat losses, thousands of such bombers would be needed, each
requiring a crew that included aerial gunners. Fighter escorts of range
sufficient to accompany the bombers were under development, but the
air offensive would not await them.

Just before the U.S. became involved in the war, the War Department
planned to mobilize civilians. Millions of men would have to be trained
quickly and efficiently as combat-ready officers, pilots, aerial gunners,
and other specialists. Understanding film's ability to effectively educate,
persuade, and inspire, as well as to entertain, Arnold asked Warner
Brothers studios to make training films for the AAF. After some successes
with Warner, the AAF formalized the operation by drafting Hal Roach
Studios in its entirety as the First Motion Picture Unit. Seasoned on- and
off-screen talent, brought into uniform straight from Hollywood studios,
staffed and ran the First. Intended for military, not public viewing, the
First's products-covering basic but essential areas like aircraft
recognition, navigation, gunnery, ditching, safety, medical treatment,
interrogation by the enemy, and survival-were intended to bring home
the realities of war to recruits. Famous directors, such as Frank Capra,
who directed the famous Why We Fight series; John Huston, of The Battle
of San Pietro; and William Wyler, of Memphis Belle, worked for the First.
Eventually, the First turned out about 300 standard length films, and
many "shorts," among them movies intended to recruit men for such
specialized aircrew positions and tasks in a modern air force as
bombardier, navigator, reconnaissance pilot, and aerial gunner. The First
itself turned out many such recruiting films. Arnold selected Gable to
produce the one on aerial gunnery. He also hoped Gable would inspire
men to become combat-ready officers through Officers' Candidate School
(OCS).

http://www.geocities.com/cactus_st/article/article143.html

_________________
“In the beginning of a change the patriot is a
scarce man, and brave, and hated and
scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid
join him, for then it costs nothing to be a
patriot.”
- Mark Twain

[Guest]

Cool Picture!

[BC]

And notice the differance between movies about WWII and Vietnam.
_________________
Remember United Flight 93, "Are you guys ready? Let's roll."
Duty Honor Country

[Son of a VET]

This would make a great documentary.
_________________

Stolen Honor

[Becky]

There are many more - men and women. They
all shame the Hollywood of today. One person
that I didn't list above was:

Henry Fonda who stopped his movie career and joined the
U. S. Navy in 1943, serving aboard a Destroyer in the Pacific
until his return in 1946 earning the , American Campaign Medal;
National Defense Medal; Philippines Liberation Medal (w/battle star);
Asiatic Pacific Theater Medal (w/battle star and Overseas Service Bar.

One wonders what he felt when he watched his daughter
cozy to the communists?
_________________
“In the beginning of a change the patriot is a
scarce man, and brave, and hated and
scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid
join him, for then it costs nothing to be a
patriot.”
- Mark Twain

[Knighthawk]

Pat Tillman.....I love you bro'
_________________
Regards,
Brian

Beware of the lollipop of mediocrity! Lick it once and you'll suck forever.

If guns kill people, then I can blame misspelled words on my pencil.

Knighthawk's Pictures!