I Served Too - D D D D

Sammy Davis, Jr. RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army	American entertainer, primarily a dancer and singer, Davis was a childhood vaudevillian who became known for his performances on Broadway and in Las Vegas, as a recording artist, television and film star, and as a member of Frank Sinatra's "Rat Pack". Served in WW2j in the European Theater.
Dennis Day RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Navy	Irish-American singer and radio, television and film personality. First appeared on Jack Benny's radio show on October 8, 1939. He continued to appear as a regular cast member when The Jack Benny Program became a TV series, staying with the show until it ended in 1965. Eventually, his own TV series, The Dennis Day Show was first telecast on NBC on February 8, 1952, and then in the 1953 to 1954 season. Between 1952 and 1978, he made numerous TV appearances as a singer and actor on such programs as NBC's The Gisele MacKenzie Show and ABC's The Bing Crosby Show, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and voice for animation on Johnny Appleseed. Served in WW2 from 1944 to 1946 as a Lieutenant.
Bill Daily RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army	American comedian and dramatic actor, and a veteran of many television sitcoms. He is best known for playing Roger Healey on I Dream of Jeannie. In the 1960s he earned guest spots on sitcoms like My Mother the Car, The Farmer's Daughter, and Bewitched. In 1972, two years after Jeannie was canceled, Daily was back at work and back in an aviator's uniform, in what is perhaps his signature role - commercial-airline navigator Howard Borden in The Bob Newhart Show. Daily would also occasionally serve as a panelist on the 1970s CBS game show The Match Game. Served in the Korean War. Drafted into the Army and served in with an artillery unit, later being transferred to an entertainment unit.
Sabu Dastagir RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army Air Forces	American film actor of Indian origin. He was normally credited only by his first name, Sabu, and is primarily known for his work in film during the 1930s–1940s in Britain and America. Perhaps best known for his role as Abu in The Thief of Bagdad (1940). Served in WW2 as a tail gunner and ball turret gunner on B-24 Liberators. He flew several dozen missions with the 370th Bomb Squadron of the 307th Bomb Group in the Pacific theater and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his valor and bravery.
William Demarest RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army	American character actor best known for his character Uncle Charley in the sitcom My Three Sons from 1965 to 1972. Served in WW1.
Brian Dennehy RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Marine Corps	American actor of film, stage and screen. He first appeared in minor screen roles in such fare as Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), Semi-Tough (1977) and Foul Play (1978) and proved popular with casting directors, leading to regular work. He then appeared in the Cold War thriller Gorky Park (1983), Cocoon (1985), and the western Silverado (1985). He also had a rich theatrical career and has appeared both in the U.S. and internationally in dynamic stage productions including "Death of a Salesman" (for which he picked up the 1999 Best Actor Tony Award. Enlisted in 1959, actively serving until 1963.
Richard Denning RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Navy	American actor who starred in such movies as Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) and An Affair to Remember (1957), and on radio with Lucille Ball as her husband George Cooper in My Favorite Husband (1948 to 1951), the forerunner of television's I Love Lucy, for which Denning was replaced by Ball's real-life husband, Desi Arnaz. He became an actor, best-known for his recurring role as Governor of Hawaii Paul Jameson in the CBS series Hawaii Five-O (1968 to 1980). Interrupted acting career to enlist in the military during WW2. He served on a submarine in the Pacific Theater as a Yeoman First Class.
Joe DiMaggio RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army Air Forces	American Major League Baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career for the New York Yankees. He is perhaps best known for his 56-game hitting streak (May 15 to July 16, 1941), a record that still stands. DiMaggio was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955. He was a three-time MVP winner and 13-time All-Star (the only player to be selected for the All-Star Game in every season he played). In his thirteen year career the Yankees won ten American League pennants and nine World Series championships. Enlisted on February 17, 1943, rising to the rank of sergeant. He was stationed at Santa Ana, California, Hawaii, and Atlantic City, New Jersey, as a physical education instructor. He was released on medical discharge in September 1945, due to chronic stomach ulcers.
Sam Donaldson RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army	American reporter and news anchor for ABC News, who from dates in 1979 through the 1990s substitute anchored the Sunday edition of World News Tonight for regular host Barry Serafin and later Carole Simpson. From 1956 to 1959, he served as an artillery officer.
Brian Donlevy RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army	Ulster-born American film actor, noted for playing tough guys from the 1930s to the 1960s. He usually appeared in supporting roles. Among his best known films are Beau Geste (1939) and The Great McGinty (1940). For his role as Sergeant Markoff in Beau Geste he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He lied about his age (he was actually 14) in 1916 so he could join the army. When Mexican rebels under Villa's command raided Columbus, NM, and killed 18 American soldiers and civilians, Gen. John J. Pershing sent American troops to invade Mexico in pursuit of Pancho Villa. Donlevy served with that expedition.
Art Donovan RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Marine Corps	American football defensive tackle, better known as Art Donovan, who played for three National Football League teams, most notably the Baltimore Colts. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1968. Spent four years in military service during WW2 before playing college football at Boston College.
James Doohan RETURN TO INDEX	Royal Canadian Artillery	Canadian character and voice actor best known for his role as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the television and film series Star Trek. Served in WW2 as a Lieutenant during the invasion of Normandy at Juno Beach on D-Day. Shooting two snipers, Doohan led his men to higher ground through a field of anti-tank mines, where they took defensive positions for the night. Crossing between command posts at 11:30 that night, Doohan was hit by six rounds fired from a Bren gun by a nervous Canadian sentry four in his leg, one in the chest, and one through his right middle finger. The bullet to his chest was stopped by a silver cigarette case. His right middle finger had to be amputated, something he would conceal during his career as an actor.
Roy Dotrice RETURN TO INDEX	Royal Air Force	British actor known for his Tony Award-winning Broadway performance in the revival of A Moon for the Misbegotten. Played the part of John Aubrey in Brief Lives, a one-man tour de force where he was on stage for more than two and a half hours. He is arguably best known to North American audiences for playing the role of "Father" in the 1980s hit TV series, Beauty and the Beast. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2008 New Year Honours. Served in WW2. In 1942 at age 16, he joined the Royal Air Force and was trained as a wireless operator and air gunner. He was soon flying missions, bombing enemy territory until his plane was shot down. Captured and taken prisoner, Roy spent the rest of the war as a P.O.W., where his first taste for the theater took root, performing concerts to raise the spirits of his fellow inmates.
Kirk Douglas RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Navy	American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Champion (1949), Ace in the Hole (1951), The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), Lust for Life (1956), Paths of Glory (1957), Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) Spartacus (1960), and Lonely Are the Brave (1962). He is #17 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time. Served in WW2. Enlisted in 1941, shortly after the U.S. entered the war he attended Midshipman School at Notre Dame University and was subsequently commissioned as an ensign. He served with an anti-submarine patrol in the Pacific Theater until he received a medical discharge following injuries in 1944. Douglas was discharged with the rank of lieutenant (j.g.).
Tony Dow RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army National Guard	American film producer, director, sculptor, and a television child actor of the 1950s and 1960s. Dow is best known for his role in the television sitcom Leave It to Beaver, which ran in primetime from 1957 to 1963. Dow played "Wallace 'Wally' Cleaver". He appeared on My Three Sons, Dr. Kildare, Mr. Novak, The Greatest Show on Earth, and Never Too Young. He also guest-starred in Adam-12, Love American Style, The Mod Squad, The Hardy Boys and Emergency! In 1986, he wrote an episode of The New Leave It to Beaver, and in 1989, he made his directorial debut with an episode of The New Lassie, followed by episodes of Get a Life, Harry and the Hendersons, Swamp Thing, Coach, Babylon 5, Crusade, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Served from 1965 to 1968, interrupting his acting career.
Hugh Downs RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army	American broadcaster, television host, producer, and author. He served as anchor of 20/20, host of The Today Show, announcer for The Tonight Show with Jack Paar, host of the Concentration game show, host of the PBS talk show Over Easy and co-host of the syndicated talk show Not for Women Only. Served in WW2 (1943).
Charles Durning RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army	American actor with appearances in over 100 films, Durning's memorable roles include police officers in the Oscar-winning The Sting (1973) and crime drama Dog Day Afternoon (1975), along with the comedies Tootsie and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (both 1982), the latter of which earned him an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor. Served in WW2. An Army Ranger he participated in the Normandy Invasion of France on D-Day and was among the first troops to land at Omaha Beach. He was wounded and awarded a Silver Star. He then took part in the Battle of the Bulge, and later wounded a second time and awarded another Purple Heart.
Robert Duvall RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army	American actor and director. He has won an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards over the course of his career. He began appearing in theatre during the late 1950s, moving into small, supporting television and film roles during the early 1960s in such works as To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). This was followed by a series of critical successes: The Godfather (1972), The Godfather Part II (1974), Network (1976), The Great Santini (1979), and Apocalypse Now (1979). Served from 19 August 1953 to 20 August 1954, leaving as Private First Class.
Dale Dye RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Marine Corps	American actor, presenter, and businessman. After his retirement in 1984 from the United States Marines, Dye founded Warriors, Inc., a California company that specializes in training actors for realistic military portrayals, for movies of the war genre. In the 1986 movie Platoon, he played Captain Harris and also served as military technical adviser for the movie. He played a role in the movie Casualties of War and also played Colonel Robert F. Sink in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, on which his company also worked, and is now beginning a directing career. He appeared in Outbreak portraying Lieutenant Colonel Briggs, a U.S. Army officer. He plays Theodore Roosevelt's superior officer, Colonel Leonard Wood, in the TNT miniseries Rough Riders. He has a small role in Saving Private Ryan as an aide to General George Catlett Marshall as well as a role playing the Admiral's aide, Captain Garza, in Under Siege and Under Siege 2. He graduated as a cadet officer from Missouri Military Academy, but there was no money for college, so he enlisted in the service in January 1964. He served in Vietnam in 1965 and 1967 through 1970, surviving 31 major combat operations. He emerged from Southeast Asia with numerous decorations, including a Bronze Star for valor and three Purple Heart medals for wounds suffered in combat. He spent 13 years as an enlisted Marine, rising to the rank of master sergeant. He was chosen to attend officer candidate school and was appointed a warrant officer in 1976. He later converted his commission and was a captain when he was sent to Beirut with the multinational peacekeeping force in 1982-83. He served in a variety of assignments around the world and along the way managed to graduate with a BA degree in English from the University of Maryland.

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