They don't make 'em like they used to

[Gerryl]

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, US Marines. 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.
Robert Stack, US Navy. Gunnery Officer.
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, 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 the 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. 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, 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.
Cark 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. Participated in the invasions of Tinian and Saipan on the assault transport USS Cavalier.
Norman Fell, US Army Air Corps. Tail Gunner, Pacific Theater.
Jason Robards, US Navy. 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 One.
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 enlist in Iraq or Afghanistan?

The only one who even comes 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 serve 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 . [ moderator edit ]
And, remember, he was killed by his own men. Friendly Fire, they call it. Yeah.
This is not the America today that it was seventy years ago. And I am saddened.

[slowmachine]

It's easy, with hindsight, to reflect on the accomplishments in these veterans' lives. You have yet to see, and likely won't see, what the recent crop of combat veterans will contribute to our nation. I have seen them, led them, suffered and survived with them. Rest assured, our great nation is in good hands.

[Grey Ghost I]

Originally Posted by slowmachine

It's easy, with hindsight, to reflect on the accomplishments in these veterans' lives. You have yet to see, and likely won't see, what the recent crop of combat veterans will contribute to our nation. I have seen them, led them, suffered and survived with them. Rest assured, our great nation is in good hands.

Enlisted in 1954 so war in Korea was over when I got there, but I can tell you the WW2 spirit was still strong at that time. I was in the Persian Gulf war, and I can tell you first hand, that the WW2 spirit was lacking in a large percentage of troops.

[IamJerryP]

But we have the National Felons League, Rosie, Oprah, Bloomberg, Michael Vick, [ moderator edit ] as role models.
hmmmm, I think I see the problem...

[MSHappyCampers]

Thanks for posting this!

[slowmachine]

Originally Posted by IamJerryP

But we have the National Felons League, Rosie, Oprah, Bloomberg, Michael Vick, [ moderator edit ] as role models.
hmmmm, I think I see the problem...

No, those people are not role models. They are nothing more than very visible bad examples that can be used as such for a teaching tool by parents. Parents and extended family are the role models, not the loonies in the news. If parents can't pry themselves from the television, kids learn to do the same. Schoolteachers and administrators play a large part, as do church congregations, sports team coaches, etc. Kids grow up and relate to our society and its baseline values in their own time, not in the past.

Aging parents and grandparents have forever said that the current generation of youth was ignorant, misguided, lacked ambition, immoral, disrespectful, blah blah blah. It has never been true, and is not true today. You are out of touch with the reality in which they live, just as your grandparents were out of touch with yours.

[NITEHAWK]

I gag when I see sports figures and popular actors of today being called heroes in the media. Who did they save? What did they do to elevate them to the status our young people that serve and served our nation deserve?
I always felt a hero was someone who was willing to lay down their life for a darn good reason. We hope they don't have too but the possibility is there.

A hero is not someone who scored lots of points on a basketball court or a football field. To call them heroes demeans the true meaning of the word!!!

[wa8yxm]

There are many who served, and with honor, and if they could not serve supported the Military in other ways (You cited one of them). Some became decorated heros, others mearly served with honor. A couple who come to mind are:
Bob Hope, who took his military discharge check and bought a driving range,, Ran it at a mild profit for a while and one day a spokesperson for the movie lot next door walked over and offered to buy the property for the studio which wished to expand..

Thats how he made his first million,, (That was the price)

And Elvis Presley, who was drafted and served.

NOTE: I have no info on the nature of the service by either of them.

I would have served myself, save for my blood pressure.. I tried, but they would not let me. So i became a police dispatcher and served domestically.

[spsm]

I would love to add my 2 cents, but everytime I hear about, Jane, Ali and the northern border jumpers I want to throw up. (US Navy) My son and his son are commissioned officers in the Army. And I'm proud.

[Dixie Dogs]

My dad! US Navy and US Air Force. WWII - Vietnam.

[pagosajoe]

Originally Posted by slowmachine

It's easy, with hindsight, to reflect on the accomplishments in these veterans' lives. You have yet to see, and likely won't see, what the recent crop of combat veterans will contribute to our nation. I have seen them, led them, suffered and survived with them. Rest assured, our great nation is in good hands.

I absolutely agree with you! They DO make then like they used to! The article cited looks back on 70 years of accomplishments by but a very few of the millions who were the "greatest generation". Check the rear view mirror in another 70 years and see what the current crop of veterans has achieved.

Melancholy adulation such as this tends to sell short the quality, dedication, and professionalism of those who serve today. As with slowmachine, I too have been there with the current crop of service members and led them. They are a wonderful example of those who voluntarily choose to serve and compare equally with those who were drafted decades ago. I salute them all!

[Doggy Daddy]

Originally Posted by wa8yxm

Bob Hope, who took his military discharge check and bought a driving range,....

Bob Hope never served in the US Military. He served for the men and women in the military. He was born in 1903 and was 38 and a successful entertainer in radio, theater and motion pictures when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor Dec 6, 1941. While aboard the RMS Queen Mary when World War II began in September 1939, Hope volunteered to perform a special show for the passengers, during which he sang "Thanks for the Memory". He performed his first USO show on May 6, 1941, at March Field, California, and continued to travel and entertain troops for the rest of World War II, later during the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the third phase of the Lebanon Civil War, the latter years of the Iran–Iraq War, and the 1990–1991 Persian Gulf War. His USO career lasted half a century, during which he headlined 57 tours.
I was fortunate and got to see him while serving in Korea.

[wildtoad]

I agree that the current generation of service men and women are just as good as those that saved us from Hitler and Tojo, fought in Korea, and served in Vietnam. Unfortunately looking back 70 years from now will not show them in the same light as we view our parents generation, and some of our senior members. Not because of the efforts of our military, but just the end results of the conflicts they were involved in. We were attacked in WWII and that generation of soldiers signed up and we WON the war, against defined enemy countries. Fast forward to now. Yes we were attacked in 2001, and spent the next 12 years or so fighting in two countries that are now in total disarray, but the enemy are religious zealots who also happen to be barbarians.


I have total respect and admiration for those that served then and now. Just think the times and events will look differently upon their accomplishments.

[ka6bud]

do not overlook ted Williams red socks

Joe(Ka6bud)
Coarsegold Ca