Hollywood's gun-toting actors and World War Two

[SunnySlopes]

I'd always heard he was a draft dodger and that's why he didn't serve.

Years ago I did considerable research on John Wayne and why he didn't serve. He didn't dodge the draft, but he didn't try to join, other than what appeared to be a half-hearted attempt to join the military film corps. He had a deferment, but the selective service later reclassified him as 1A, but then his studio pulled some strings and got his deferment back.

Nobody knows why Wayne didn't want to serve. But I figure it was because he had several dependant children, plus his career was taking off.

Many Hollywood pundits figured that Wayne's superpatriotism was because he didn't serve.

 

[gym]

I believe Pitt likes guns a lot and so does the wife. But I also believe he thinks only he should have them, not us. He is a big Obama supporter, him and Cloony, so there is your answer, he's no Tom Selleck or Charlton Heston. He believes he is intelligent enough to have whatever he wants. If you watched the Mike Tyson one man show on HBO, there is an interesting story of when Pitt was caught coming home with Mikes then wife Robin Givens. He cracked me up.
No sir Mr. Tyson we were just studying lines.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

But did you ever wonder what those movie stars did when World War Two came around? Some got drafted, naturally, but many more of them put patriotism ahead of their careers and enlisted first, and some volunteered for some pretty risky stuff.

A lot were not big time stars. Many weren't even into acting. They became stars AFTER service. Audie Murphy is a classic example, LOL. So is Lee Marvin, Tony Curtis, Danny Aiello (who didn't get into acting until well after the war), etc.

It is hard to put your Hollywood career on the line if you aren't actually a Hollywood actor.

 

[gym]

I guess it's easier to play a war hero, if you were actually a war hero.

 

[SleazyRider]

Chuck Conners---the Rifleman hisself---enlisted in the Army during WW2 and served as a tank-warfare instructor in Fort Campbell, KY, and later West Point, NY. In addition to being adept at spinning and shooting that large-loop Winchester, he was also one heck of an athlete, playing professional baseball and basketball.

 

[230RN]

More on Richard Crenna from Wiki. I didn't see his name on the list linked in the OP.

Following High School, Crenna served in the US Army during World War II. Crenna participated in World War II serving in the infantry as a Radioman - where he saw combat duty in the European theater at the Battle of the Bulge. Crenna also served in the Pacific theater decoding Japanese intercepts. Following World War II, Crenna attended the University of Southern California where he Majored in English.

I wonder if he knew my old Scoutmaster, who was also a Radioman in the Battle of the Bulge.

Another one of those questions which can never be answered since both of these old warriors have passed from the scene.

Terry, 230RN

 

[saltydog452]

And then was Texan Hero LBJ

Politically connected LBJ was awarded the Silver Star. He was a passenger in a single flight. Seems that no one else on that flight received any recognition.

Google is your friend as is Military.com. Check it out.

In my short life, Lyndon seems to have been the most despicable example of floating excrement. Although he has had some serious competition in the smelly 'floater' catagory', he is the top floater.

salty

 

[Tommygunn]

Politically connected LBJ was awarded the Silver Star. He was a passenger in a single flight. Seems that no one else on that flight received any recognition.

Google is your friend as is Military.com. Check it out.

In my short life, Lyndon seems to have been the most despicable example of floating excrement. Although he has had some serious competition in the smelly 'floater' catagory', he is the top floater.

salty

He certainly mistreated his dog (which angered me) and pissing in the Rose Garden was just downright crude. He was a thug in a Ten Gallon Texas hat .....

 

[Derry 1946]

I'm "in the mood" to give it up for Glenn Miller, who could certainly have avoided service, but who chose to forego his lucrative gig and say goodbye to his wife and kids, all to give the Army a shot in the arm with some morale-building, toe-tapping tunes. His plane was lost December 15, 1944 with all souls aboard, over the English Channel. Gives new meaning to his rendition of Danny Boy.

 

[Leanwolf]

SALTY DOG452 - "... Politically connected LBJ was awarded the Silver Star. He was a passenger in a single flight. Seems that no one else on that flight received any recognition."

Yep, and because LBJ was a politically appointed Navy Lt. Commander, who had never had one lick of military service, he put himself in for the Silver Star for doing absolutely nothing other than being on a Navy airplane one trip. He then got it approved through his Washington "connections." Made himself out to be a great "hero" in the war, thereafter using it in his political career.

If you want to read just how incredibly corrupt LBJ was, including being a life long, low down coward, read "The Years of LYNDON JOHNSON, The Path To Power" by Robert A. Caro, Alfred A. Knopf Publs., © 1982.

It is an amazing story of not only how he rose to power, but just how things work in Washington, D.C. politics, and the abysmal corruption there.

L.W.

 

[mljdeckard]

Yes, Angelina Jolie is a pro-gun celebrity.......who is a celebrity rep for the U.N.

Spielburg apparently has a big gun collection, but is mostly anti-gun. Going with the Stallone "for me, not for you" mentality.

As stated above, there are precious few celebrities who are TRULY pro-gun.

I remember being shocked by Charles Durning's service record. Dennis Franz was in the 82nd and the 101st in Vietnam. Several years ago, there was a news story when a guy tried to start a fight with Gene Hackman after a traffic accident, and Gene put his face in the gravel. He was a Marine in the Korea timeframe.

 

[Big_John1961]

Wow, long-time character actor Charles Durning; stormed the beach at Normandy, awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, 3 Purple Hearts and shot multiple times. Never knew that about him.

 

[Big_John1961]

Aldo Ray was a UDT Frogman (Navy SEAL). So it could be said that his portrayal of a Green Beret in the film "The Green Berets" was something of a demotion. I know of a few SEALs who'd think so anyway.