Rockingham Remembered
Wilson's Picks
The Flipside of Modern
Day Hollywood
Just wish to share something that was sent to me and too good to keep
in my computer files - - it makes you recall that there was a time when
you had no Streisands, Baldwins, Fondas, Dixie Chicks, Madonna,
Sarandons, Robbins and Michael Moores.
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.
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' Candidate
School 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.
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.
Lee Marvin was a U.S. Marine on Saipan during the Marianas campaign when he
was wounded earning the Purple Heart.
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 WWII 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 yester-year saying they hate our flag,
making anti-war speeches, marching in anti-American parades and saying they
hate our president? I thought not, neither did I!