Hollywood then and now

[LDB]

I haven't checked every one of these but am aware of many of them. I suspect most are accurate, if not all.


SADLY, THEY DON'T MAKE 'EM LIKE THEY USE TO...

Stewart Hayden, US Marines and OSS. Smuggled guns into Yugoslavia and parachuted into Croatia.

James Stewart, US Army Air Corps. Bomber pilot who rose to the rank of General.

Ernest Borgnine, US Navy. Gunners Mate 1c, destroyer USS Lamberton.

Ed McMahon, US Marines. Fighter Pilot. (Flew OE-1 Bird Dogs over Korea as well.)

Telly Savalas, US Army.

Walter Matthau, US Army Air Corps., B-24 Radioman/Gunner and cryptographer.

Steve Forrest, US Army. Wounded, Battle of the Bulge.

Jonathan Winters, USMC. Battleship USS Wisconsin and Carrier USS Bon Homme Richard. Anti-aircraft gunner, Battle of Okinawa.

Paul Newman, US Navy Rear seat gunner/radioman, torpedo bombers of USS Bunker Hill

Kirk Douglas, US Navy. Sub-chaser in the Pacific. Wounded in action and medically discharged.

Robert Mitchum, US Army.

Dale Robertson, US Army. Tank Commander in North Africa under Patton. Wounded twice. Battlefield Commission.

Henry Fonda, US Navy. Destroyer USS Satterlee.

John Carroll, US Army Air Corps. Pilot in North Africa. Broke his back in a crash.

Lee Marvin, US Marines. Sniper. Wounded in action on Saipan. Buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Sec. 7A next to Greg Boyington and Joe Louis.

Art Carney, US Army. Wounded on Normandy beach, D-Day. Limped for the rest of his life.

Wayne Morris, US Navy fighter pilot, USS Essex. Downed seven Japanese fighters.

Rod Steiger, US Navy. Was aboard one of the ships that launched the Doolittle Raid.

Tony Curtis, US Navy. Sub tender USS Proteus. In Tokyo Bay for the surrender of Japan.

Larry Storch, US Navy. Sub tender USS Proteus with Tony Curtis.

Forrest Tucker, US Army. Enlisted as a private, rose to Lieutenant.

Robert Montgomery, US Navy.

George Kennedy, US Army. Enlisted after Pearl Harbor, stayed in sixteen years.

Mickey Rooney, US Army under Patton. Bronze Star.

Denver Pyle, US Navy. Wounded in the Battle of Guadalcanal. Medically discharged.

Burgess Meredith, US Army Air Corps.

DeForest Kelley, US Army Air Corps.

Neville Brand, US Army, Europe. Was awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart.

Tyrone Power, US Marines. Transport pilot in the Pacific Theater.

Charlton Heston, US Army Air Corps. Radio operator and aerial gunner on a B-25, Aleutians.

Danny Aiello, US Army. Lied about his age to enlist at 16. Served three years.

James Arness, US Army. As an infantryman, he was severely wounded at Anzio, Italy.

Efram Zimbalist, Jr., US Army. Purple Heart for a severe wound received at Huertgen Forest.

Mickey Spillane, US Army Air Corps, Fighter Pilot and later Instructor Pilot.

Rod Serling, US Army. 11th Airborne Division in the Pacific. He jumped at Tagaytay in the Philippines and was later wounded in Manila.

Gene Autry, US Army Air Corps. Crewman on transports that ferried supplies over "The Hump" in the China-Burma-India Theater.

Wiliam Holden, US Army Air Corps.

Alan Hale Jr, US Coast Guard.

Harry Dean Stanton, US Navy. Battle of Okinawa.

Russell Johnson, US Army Air Corps. B-24 crewman who was awarded Purple Heart when his aircraft was shot down by the Japanese in the Philippines.

William Conrad, US Army Air Corps. Fighter Pilot.

Jack Klugman, US Army.

Frank Sutton, US Army. Took part in 14 assault landings, including Leyte, Luzon, Bataan and Corregidor.

Jackie Coogan, US Army Air Corps. Volunteered for gliders and flew troops and materials into Burma behind enemy lines.

Tom Bosley, US Navy.

Claude Akins, US Army. Signal Corps., Burma and the Philippines.

Chuck Connors, US Army. Tank-warfare instructor.

Harry Carey Jr., US Navy.

Mel Brooks, US Army. Combat Engineer. Saw action in the Battle of the Bulge.

Robert Altman, US Army Air Corps. B-24 Co-Pilot.

Pat Hingle, US Navy. Destroyer USS Marshall

Fred Gwynne, US Navy. Radioman.

Karl Malden, US Army Air Corps. 8th Air Force, NCO.

Earl Holliman, US Navy. Lied about his age to enlist. Discharged after a year when they Navy found out.

Rock Hudson, US Navy. Aircraft mechanic, the Philippines.

Harvey Korman, US Navy.

Aldo Ray. US Navy. UDT frogman, Okinawa.

Don Knotts, US Army, Pacific Theater.

Don Rickles, US Navy aboard USS Cyrene.

Harry Dean Stanton, US Navy. Served aboard an LST in the Battle of Okinawa.

Robert Stack, US Navy. Gunnery Instructor.

Soupy Sales, US Navy. Served on USS Randall in the South Pacific.

Lee Van Cleef, US Navy. Served aboard a sub chaser then a mine sweeper.

Clifton James, US Army, South Pacific. Was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart.

Ted Knight, US Army, Combat Engineers.

Jack Warden, US Navy, 1938-1942, then US Army, 1942-1945. 101st Airborne Division.

Don Adams, US Marines. Wounded on Guadalcanal, then served as a Drill Instructor.

James Gregory, US Navy and US Marines.

Brian Keith, US Marines. Radioman/Gunner in Dauntless dive-bombers.

Fess Parker, US Navy and US Marines. Booted from pilot training for being too tall, joined Marines as a radio operator.

Charles Durning, US Army. Landed at Normandy on D-Day. Shot multiple times. Awarded the Silver Star and Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts. Survived Malmedy Massacre.

Raymond Burr, US Navy. Shot in the stomach on Okinawa and medically discharged.

Hugh O'Brian, US Marines.

Robert Ryan, US Marines.

Eddie Albert, US Coast Guard. Bronze Star with Combat V for saving several Marines under heavy fire as pilot of a landing craft during the invasion of Tarawa.

Clark Gable, US Army Air Corps. B-17 gunner over Europe.

Charles Bronson, US Army Air Corps. B-29 gunner, wounded in action.

Peter Graves, US Army Air Corps.

Buddy Hackett, US Army anti-aircraft gunner.

Victor Mature, US Coast Guard.

Jack Palance, US Army Air Corps. Severely injured bailing out of a burning B-24 bomber.

Robert Preston, US Army Air Corps. Intelligence Officer

Cesar Romero, US Coast Guard. Coast Guard. Participated in the invasions of Tinian and Saipan on the assault transportUSS Cavalier.

Norman Fell, US Army Air Corps., Tail Gunner, Pacific Theater.

Jason Robards, US Navy. was aboard heavy cruiser USS Northampton when it was sunk off Guadalcanal. Also served on the USS Nashville during the invasion of the Philippines, surviving a kamikaze hit that caused 223 casualties.

Steve Reeves, US Army, Philippines.

Dennis Weaver, US Navy. Pilot.

Robert Taylor, US Navy. Instructor Pilot.

Randolph Scott, Tried to enlist in the Marines but was rejected due to injuries sustained in US Army, World War 1.

Ronald Reagan, US Army. Was a 2nd Lt. in the Cavalry Reserves before the war. His poor eyesight kept him from being sent overseas with his unit when war came so he transferred to the Army Air Corps Public Relations Unit where he served for the duration.

John Wayne. Declared "4F medically unfit" due to pre-existing injuries, he nonetheless attempted to volunteer three times (Army, Navy and Film Corps.) so he gets honorable mention.

And of course, we have Audie Murphy, America's most-decorated soldier, who became a Hollywood star as a result of his US Army service that included his being awarded the Medal of Honor.


Would someone please remind me again how many of today's Hollywood elite put their careers on hold to serve in the military?

The only one who even came remotely close was Pat Tillman, who turned down a contract offer of $3.6 million over three years from the Arizona Cardinals to enlist in the US Army after September, 11, 2001 and served as a Ranger in Afghanistan, where he died in 2004. But rather than being lauded for his choice and his decision to put his country before his career, he was mocked and derided by many of his peers and the Left.

 

[Turtle]

Would someone please remind me again how many of today's Hollywood elite put their careers on hold to serve in the military?

That's an easy one - it's exactly the same number of Hollywood elites who get drafted to fight in a World War, plus those who joined up to beat the draft because of peer pressure from everyone around them who got drafted.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Yep....and there has been no draft since the Vietnam....so the new breed of Hollywood...looks much different.....

didn't see a Johnny Cash, Willy Nelson, or very many of the Nashville crowd on that list....or for that fact many Big band Musical entertainers.....I guess USO is the closest they wanted to serve....


Bing Crosby...Yank magazine recognized Crosby as the person who had done the most for American G.I. morale during World War II

 

[layoutshooter]

HEY OVM, Johnny Cash served the the United States Air Force Security Service. He was a morse code intercept operator, same job as I had in the ASA. Chuck Norris was in the Air Force Security Service as well. As to big band, Glenn Miller was killed while in the service. His plane was most likely brought down by "friendly fire" over the English channel. Don't forget that when Elvis got drafted he REFUSED service in the Special Services Entertainment section and opted to become a "scout". He was noted for being quite good at what he did.

Also, there have been 28 from the USO that have been killed in performance of their "duties" over the years.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

HEY OVM, Johnny Cash served the the United States Air Force Security Service. He was a morse code intercept operator, same job as I had in the ASA. Chuck Norris was in the Air Force Security Service as well. As to big band, Glenn Miller was killed while in the service. His plane was most likely brought down by "friendly fire" over the English channel. Don't forget that when Elvis got drafted he REFUSED service in the Special Services Entertainment section and opted to become a "scout". He was noted for being quite good at what he did.

Also, there have been 28 from the USO that have been killed in performance of their "duties" over the years.

I was pretty sure Leo's post had more to do with "Hollywood Lifestyle" then facts as so many were left off the list....

 

[layoutshooter]

I was pretty sure Leo's post had more to do with "Hollywood Lifestyle" then facts as so many were left off the list....

You just wanted to pick on Country singers.

 

[LDB]

I didn't create the list and I'm sure many more both in and out of Hollywood could be included. I think it's not so much the lifestyle as the values and value of the people. And yes, some were drafted but I suspect quite a few enlisted not because they wanted to beat the draft but because that's who they were.

 

[skyraider]

Bob, Lee, Randal,Billy, Bill, Jimmy,Ted,Kyle,Lonnie, Harold,and Frank and another Bill, Lester, Bud, Calvin, TL, Sterling,Uncle Bill, all a mix of Navy, Marines, of Vietnam, WW2 Army infantry and Army Air Corp. None of them were drafted, no Hollywood here...just saying..

 

[layoutshooter]

Then there is today's "peer pressure":

[h=1]IRS accused of targeting Hollywood conservatives[/h]
IRS accused of targeting Hollywood conservatives - Washington Times

 

[OntarioVanMan]

I didn't create the list and I'm sure many more both in and out of Hollywood could be included. I think it's not so much the lifestyle as the values and value of the people. And yes, some were drafted but I suspect quite a few enlisted not because they wanted to beat the draft but because that's who they were.

I agree...because it "was the right thing to do"....

 

[RLENT]

I suspect some of the "then" vs "now" might have to do with people being a little more wiser about the government's proclivity to lie about things ... the Gulf of Tonkin incident comes to mind ... as do WMD's in Iraq ...

 

[Ragman]

I suspect some of the "then" vs "now" might have to do with people being a little more wiser about the government's proclivity to lie about things ... the Gulf of Tonkin incident comes to mind ... as do WMD's in Iraq ...

Government's lie? . . .But . . . But . . .

 

[Turtle]

... the Gulf of Tonkin incident comes to mind ... as do WMD's in Iraq ...

Excellent example of history repeating itself.

I have little doubt that if we are attacked by a foreign power, or need to go fight a foreign war to defend our way of life, or dare I say, actually defend the Constitution of the United States, there will be no shortage of Hollywood elites or anyone else signing up to fight that fight. It's just that we haven't had to do that since 1945. The American people know the difference between fighting for a genuine cause and fighting for some political bull**** cause.

 

[xiggi]

Comparing today with that era is an illogical comparison. As turtle pointed out we had a draft back then. Their is no comparing the percentage of male population in or armed forces today compared to then. The same comparison could be made for almost any profession.

sent from my Fisher Price - ABC123

 

[xiggi]

I have heard the number of computer proffesionals today that has served in out forces dwarfs that of yesteryear.

sent from my Fisher Price - ABC123

 

[aristotle]

Excellent example of history repeating itself.

I have little doubt that if we are attacked by a foreign power, or need to go fight a foreign war to defend our way of life, or dare I say, actually defend the Constitution of the United States, there will be no shortage of Hollywood elites or anyone else signing up to fight that fight. It's just that we haven't had to do that since 1945. The American people know the difference between fighting for a genuine cause and fighting for some political bull**** cause.

If we as a people were to rise up in defense of the Constitution, it would begin and end with a march on Washington,DC.

 

[aristotle]

What exactly about our current way of life is worthy of defending? While our borders remain unchanged, the United States of 2014 is a nation almost unrecognizable relative to a few short years ago.

We elect a man of Muslim sympathies to the Presidency, twice. Compounding the horror, this same President celebrates homosexual marriages being performed in the White House. His economic ignorance is so profound that he believes America can simultaneously have open borders and a welfare state. In real time, we are watching this nation deconstruct.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

What exactly about our current way of life is worthy of defending? While our borders remain unchanged, the United States of 2014 is a nation almost unrecognizable relative to a few short years ago.

We elect a man of Muslim sympathies to the Presidency, twice. Compounding the horror, this same President celebrates homosexual marriages being performed in the White House. His economic ignorance is so profound that he believes America can simultaneously have open borders and a welfare state. In real time, we are watching this nation deconstruct.

and that opinion is from yours and like mind Americans....As a nation still struggling to identify themselves as a society....a failed Constitution that appears not to work...since it has never been adhered to....but has nice words....it is an interesting view from the bleachers to watch this nation and its changing development.... a society that is ONLY 270 years old....and most definitely changing its direction as dictated by the tone of the politics...not meaning anything nasty or disrespectful, just saying.....

 

[Pilgrim]

and that opinion is from yours and like mind Americans....As a nation still struggling to identify themselves as a society....a failed Constitution that appears not to work...since it has never been adhered to....but has nice words....it is an interesting view from the bleachers to watch this nation and its changing development.... a society that is ONLY 270 years old....and most definitely changing its direction as dictated by the tone of the politics...not meaning anything nasty or disrespectful, just saying.....

"...a failed constitution"?? Not hardly. It has only resulted in the most powerful and affluent nation in history, allowing its citizens to achieve a level of personal freedom and standard of living previously unheard of. Even as the America haters squeal about "social injustice" and all their other imagined maladies, people pour over our borders to get in - not get out. However, when the American voters are convinced by the mainstream media to elect (and re-elect) an inexperienced, incompetent, radically liberal socialist like Barack Hussein Obama they suffer the consequences of their ignorance and bad decisions. This POTUS and his liberal lackeys have no regard for our constitution or the nation's laws, and no one will hold him to account; not the media, not the Republican opposition party, and apparently not the voters. This was predicted in 2006 by Gov Richard Lamm (D-CO) in a speech coming to pass right before our eyes

[SIZE=+1]I have a plan to destroy America [Richard D. Lamm, former governor of Colorado] [/SIZE]
WorlNet Daily ^ | July 11, 2006 | Richard D. Lamm
Posted on 7/11/2006 9:47:08 AM by conservativecorner

Editor's note: In 2004, Richard D. Lamm, former governor of Colorado, addressed a conference sponsored by the Federation for American Immigration Reform in Washington. The following remarks are reprinted with his permission.
Richard. D. Lamm

I have a secret plan to destroy America. If you believe, as many do, that America is too smug, too white bread, too self-satisfied, too rich, let's destroy America. It is not that hard to do. History shows that nations are more fragile than their citizens think. No nation in history has survived the ravages of time. Arnold Toynbee observed that all great civilizations rise and they all fall, and that "an autopsy of history would show that all great nations commit suicide." Here is my plan:

We must first make America a bilingual-bicultural country. History shows, in my opinion, that no nation can survive the tension, conflict and antagonism of two competing languages and cultures. It is a blessing for an individual to be bilingual; it is a curse for a society to be bilingual. One scholar, Seymour Martin Lipset, put it this way: "The histories of bilingual and bicultural societies that do not assimilate are histories of turmoil, tension and tragedy. Canada, Belgium, Malaysia, Lebanon – all face crises of national existence in which minorities press for autonomy, if not independence. Pakistan and Cyprus have divided. Nigeria suppressed an ethnic rebellion. France faces difficulties with its Basques, Bretons and Corsicans."

I would then invent "multiculturalism" and encourage immigrants to maintain their own culture. I would make it an article of belief that all cultures are equal: that there are no cultural differences that are important. I would declare it an article of faith that the black and Hispanic dropout rate is only due to prejudice and discrimination by the majority. Every other explanation is out-of-bounds.

We can make the United States a "Hispanic Quebec" without much effort. The key is to celebrate diversity rather than unity. As Benjamin Schwarz said in the Atlantic Monthly recently, "The apparent success of our own multiethnic and multicultural experiment might have been achieved, not by tolerance, but by hegemony. Without the dominance that once dictated ethnocentrically, and what it meant to be an American, we are left with only tolerance and pluralism to hold us together." I would encourage all immigrants to keep their own language and culture. I would replace the melting pot metaphor with a salad bowl metaphor. It is important to insure that we have various cultural sub-groups living in America reinforcing their differences, rather than Americans emphasizing their similarities.
Having done all this, I would make our fastest-growing demographic group the least educated – I would add a second underclass, unassimilated, undereducated and antagonistic to our population. I would have this second underclass have a 50 percent dropout rate from school.

I would then get the big foundations and big business to give these efforts lots of money. I would invest in ethnic identity, and I would establish the cult of victimology. I would get all minorities to think their lack of success was all the fault of the majority. I would start a grievance industry blaming all minority failure on the majority population.

I would establish dual citizenship and promote divided loyalties. I would "celebrate diversity." "Diversity" is a wonderfully seductive word. It stresses differences rather than commonalities. Diverse people worldwide are mostly engaged in hating each other – that is, when they are not killing each other. A "diverse," peaceful or stable society is against most historical precedent. People undervalue the unity it takes to keep a nation together, and we can take advantage of this myopia. Look at the ancient Greeks. Dorf's "World History" tells us: "The Greeks believed that they belonged to the same race; they possessed a common language and literature; and they worshiped the same gods. All Greece took part in the Olympic Games in honor of Zeus, and all Greeks venerated the shrine of Apollo at Delphi. A common enemy, Persia, threatened their liberty. Yet, all of these bonds together were not strong enough to overcome two factors ... (local patriotism and geographical conditions that nurtured political divisions ...)" If we can put the emphasis on the "pluribus," instead of the "unum," we can balkanize America as surely as Kosovo.

Then I would place all these subjects off-limits – make it taboo to talk about. I would find a word similar to "heretic" in the 16th century – that stopped discussion and paralyzed thinking. Words like "racist", "xenophobe" halt argument and conversation. Having made America a bilingual-bicultural country, having established multiculturalism, having the large foundations fund the doctrine of "victimology," I would next make it impossible to enforce our immigration laws. I would develop a mantra – "because immigration has been good for America, it must always be good." I would make every individual immigrant sympatric and ignore the cumulative impact.

Lastly, I would censor Victor Davis Hanson's book "Mexifornia" – this book is dangerous; it exposes my plan to destroy America. So please, please – if you feel that America deserves to be destroyed – please, please – don't buy this book! This guy is on to my plan. "The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum." – Noam Chomsky, American linguist and U.S. media and foreign policy critic.

I have a plan to destroy America [Richard D. Lamm, former governor of Colorado]

 

[Turtle]

....it is an interesting view from the bleachers to watch this nation and its changing development.... a society that is ONLY 270 years old....and most definitely changing its direction as dictated by the tone of the politics...not meaning anything nasty or disrespectful, just saying.....

You mean those 146 year old bleachers who's direction has been dictated by its own politics since 1982?