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From: Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv
Subject: Re: Jimmy Stewart
Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2025 18:52:21 -0500
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On 2025-01-23 5:52 PM, BTR1701 wrote:
> On Jan 23, 2025 at 2:39:06 PM PST, "Rhino" <no_offline_contact@example.com>
> wrote:
> 
>> On 2025-01-23 4:11 PM, BTR1701 wrote:
>>>   On Jan 23, 2025 at 12:57:36 PM PST, "Rhino" <no_offline_contact@example.com>
>>>   wrote:
>>>   
>>>>   On 2025-01-23 3:11 PM, BTR1701 wrote:
>>>>>     I just learned something I never knew:
>>>>>     
>>>>>     Jimmy Stewart (the actor) was a soldier in WWII and rose from the rank of
>>>>>     private to colonel during the war and retired in 1968 as a 2-star general.
>>>>>     He’s only one of a handful of soldiers who have accomplished that
>>>>> dramatic a
>>>>>     rise through the ranks of the Army. And he wasn’t just doing “celebrity
>>>>>   duty”
>>>>>     in the Army, either. During the war, he flew dozens of B-52 combat sorties
>>>>>     over Nazi Germany.
>>>>>     
>>>>>     
>>>>   I knew most of that but not that he had started as a private; for some
>>>>   reason, I thought pilots started higher up the food chain. I don't think
>>>>   he finally retired for the Air Force Reserve in 1968 when he reached the
>>>>   mandatory retirement age of 60. He was even on a flight during the
>>>>   Vietnam War as an observer.
>>>>
>>>>   You're slightly wrong about his final rank: he was a brigadier general.
>>>>   Or so says Wikipedia anyway. A brigadier general is a 1-star general,
>>>>   not a 2-star. But he did reach the highest rank of any actor in American
>>>>   military history.
>>>   
>>>   He was a brigadier when he retired but they promoted him to major general on
>>>   his retirement date so the official record shows him at the higher rank
>>> (which
>>>   also means a higher military pension). This is not uncommon for officers who
>>>   retire in good standing. My own father retired at one rank higher than he
>>> was
>>>   when he put in his papers.
>>>   
>> Ah yes, I'd forgotten about that practice.
>>
>>>>   Many other actors served in the world wars. Humphrey Bogart served in
>>>>   WWI in the Navy and a bit of shrapnel hit him in the face during an
>>>>   enemy bombardment causing his speech to change slightly to what we all
>>>>   know from his films. However, Wikipedia says this account is disputed
>>>>   and several other incidents are cited as possible sources of the scar on
>>>>   his lip.
>>>>
>>>>   Eddie Albert (Oliver from Green Acres) served in the Navy in WWII and
>>>>   earned a Bronze Star for actions in the Pacific.
>>>>
>>>>   Clark Gable served on bombers over Europe during WWII as a gunner.
>>>>   Hitler valued Gable above all other actors and offered a reward to
>>>>   anyone who could bring him Gable unscathed if he happened to crash or
>>>>   jump from a plane during a mission. Apparently, Hitler was fascinated by
>>>>   Gable's EARS and wanted to study them closely. As I understand it,
>>>>   Gable's ears raised some interesting questions about Hitler's racial
>>>>   theories but I don't know any further details.
>>>>
>>>>   This is only a very few of the actors who served in war. There was a lot
>>>>   of social pressure on all men, including actors, to serve in WWII. A few
>>>>   actors escaped military service when their studios deemed them too
>>>>   valuable to risk and got exemptions for them but most served if they
>>>>   were physically able.
>>>   
>>>   And of course Elvis was drafted and served two years in Germany.
>>>   
>>>   
>> Ditto for Johnny Cash, who was in the Air Force, also in Germany.
>> Jimi Hendrix served in the 101st Airborne during his military service,
>> although he was discharged early(?) because he was a lousy shot and was
>> not thought to have the makings of a good soldier.
> 
> Can you imagine any of our current crop of celebrities going willingly to war
> to fight for the nation? There may be some but none leap readily to mind. The
> only ones I can think of are now too old to serve.
> 
> 
Being against the war in Vietnam became very fashionable during that war 
and somehow morphed into being against ALL wars. Patriotism itself 
became "uncool" but the "progressives" hated being labelled unpatriotic 
so they redefined patriotism itself as being against War so that they 
could still claim to be patriots.

I expect there were some actors who served in the wars after Vietnam but 
I'll bet they mostly keep quiet about it for fear of being 
shunned/black-listed by the broader Hollywood community.

The pendulum started swinging back in a small way 10 or 15 years ago 
when it became "acceptable" for *characters* to have military service in 
the recent wars. For instance, Bosch's character had served in Vietnam 
in the Bosch books, although they updated it to the Iraq war for the TV 
series. Danny Reagan's character also served in Iraq; this was mentioned 
occasionally during Blue Bloods.

It's probably going to take a major war that America wins involving a 
draft before Hollywood again decides that it's cool to serve in the 
military.


-- 
Rhino