I Served Too - G G G G

Clark Gable RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army Air Forces	American film actor, nicknamed "The King of Hollywood" in his heyday. Gable's most famous role was Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh. His performance earned him his third nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor; he won for It Happened One Night (1934) and was also nominated for Mutiny on the Bounty (1935). Later performances were in Run Silent, Run Deep, a submarine war film, and his final film, The Misfits (1961), which paired Gable with Marilyn Monroe, also in her last screen appearance. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Gable seventh among the greatest male stars of all time. Served in WW2 (1942 to 1944). Spent most of the war in the United Kingdom at RAF Polebrook with the 351st. Flew five combat missions, including one to Germany, as an observer-gunner in B-17 Flying Fortresses between May 4 and September 23, 1943, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal. Rose to the rank of major.
Verne Gagne RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Marine Corps	American professional wrestler, football player, and professional wrestling trainer and promoter. He was the former owner/promoter of the American Wrestling Association, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which was the predominant promotion throughout the Midwest and Manitoba for many years. He remained in this position until 1991, when the company folded. He is listed as a 10-time AWA World Heavyweight Champion. Gagne holds the record for the most combined days as a world champion and is third behind Bruno Sammartino and Lou Thesz for the longest single world title reign. He is one of six men inducted into each of the WWE Hall of Fame, the WCW Hall of Fame, the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame. After one year of college, he enlisted in the service, 1944 to 1945.
Bill Gaines RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army Air Forces	American publisher and co-editor of EC Comics, and publisher of Mad, the popular illustrated satirical magazine, for over 40 years. Bill Gaines found his niche in publishing horror, science fiction and fantasy comics, as well as war comics and two satirical titles, Mad and Panic. His comic books, including Tales from the Crypt, The Vault of Horror, Shock SuspenStories, Weird Science and Two-Fisted Tales featured stories with content above the level of the typical comic. As WW2 began, Gaines was rejected by the Army, Coast Guard and Navy, so he went to his draft board and requested to be drafted. He trained as an Army Air Corps photographer at Lowry Field in Denver. However, when he was assigned to an Oklahoma City field which did not have a photographic facility, he wound up on permanent KP duty. Gaines was stationed at DeRidder Army Airfield in Louisiana, at Marshall Field in Kansas, and then at Governors Island, New York. He left the service in 1946.
Jerry Garcia RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army	American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead. Received basic training at Fort Ord. After training, he was transferred to Fort Winfield Scott in the Presidio of San Francisco. He spent most of his time in the army at his leisure, missing roll call and accruing many counts of AWOL. As a result, Garcia was given a general discharge on December 14, 1960.
James Garner RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Merchant Marine & U.S. Army	American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades. These included his roles as Bret Maverick, in the popular 1950s western-comedy series, Maverick; Jim Rockford, in the popular 1970s detective drama, The Rockford Files; and the father of Katey Sagal's character on 8 Simple Rules following the death of John Ritter. He has starred in dozens of movies, including The Great Escape, Paddy Chayefsky's The Americanization of Emily (1964). Blake Edwards' Victor Victoria (1982) and Murphy's Romance (1985), for which he received an Academy Award nomination. At 16 he joined the United States Merchant Marine. Later, he joined the National Guard serving seven months in the U.S. He then went to Korea for 14 months in the United States Army, serving in the 24th Infantry Division in the Korean War. He was wounded twice, first in the face and hand from shrapnel fire from a mortar round, and second on April 23, 1951 in the buttocks from friendly fire from U.S. fighter jets as he dove headfirst into a foxhole. He was awarded the Purple Heart in Korea for the first injury. For the second wound, he received a second Purple Heart.
Dave Garroway RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Navy	American television personality best known as the founding host of NBC's Today from 1952 to 1961. After the war, he returned to the Windy City as a disc jockey at WMAQ (AM). On the air, he retained the persona he crafted in Honolulu to great success in a series of radio programs: The 11:60 Club, The Dave Garroway Show, and Reserved for Garroway. His fellow disk jockeys voted him the nation's best in the 1948 and 1949 Billboard polls. Garroway was introduced to the national television audience when he hosted the experimental musical variety show Garroway at Large. At the same time he did Today, Garroway also hosted a Friday night variety series, The Dave Garroway Show from October 2, 1953, to June 25, 1954, and on October 16, 1955, he began hosting NBC's Sunday afternoon live documentary Wide Wide World, continuing with that series until June 8, 1958. Another Friday evening variety show, Dave's Place, was on the air in 1960. He also hosted a radio show, Dial Dave Garroway, that went on the air as soon as Today wrapped up each morning. Served in WW2. The Navy agreed to let him run a yeoman's school, and on his off-hours he hosted a radio show in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Elmer Gedeon RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army & U.S. Army Air Forces	American Major League Baseball player. He was also a multi-sport star in college at the University of Michigan. At Michigan, Gedeon became an All-American in track and field, and earned varsity letters in both American football and baseball. He tied a world record in the high hurdles in 1938. After graduating, Gedeon had a stint in Major League Baseball as an outfielder for the Washington Senators. Gedeon spent most of the 1939 and 1940 baseball seasons in the minor leagues, but he was called up to the Senators in September 1939. Served in WW2. Was drafted in January 1941. He was inducted at Fort Thomas, Kentucky and reported to the Cavalry Replacement Center at Fort Riley on March 18. He immediately became an acting corporal of Troop B of the First Squadron for the thirteen-week training program. On October 22, 1941, Gedeon was accepted into pilot training despite his size and transferred to the Army Air Forces, earning his pilot's wings and a commission as a second lieutenant at Williams Field, Arizona in May 1942. Gedeon was awarded the Soldier's Medal for heroism and bravery after his B-25 crashed in the middle of a swamp on take off from the municipal airport at Raleigh, North Carolina. Despite burns and three broken ribs, he went back into the wreckage, rescuing a crewmate, Corporal John R. Rarrat, who had suffered a broken back and two broken legs. In February 1944, he was sent to RAF Boreham, England, to served with the Ninth Air Force. Gedeon was assigned as Squadron Operations Officer and began flying combat missions over Europe. On April 20, 1944, Gedeon piloted one of 36 B-26's that left Boreham in the late afternoon to attack a V-1 "buzz bomb" site being constructed at Esquerdes, a village in the Pas-de-Calais near Saint-Omer. His plane was hit by flak below the cockpit just after the bombing and subsequently crashed, killing Gedeon.
Christopher George RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Marine Corps	American television and film actor who was perhaps best known for his starring role in the 1966-1968 TV series The Rat Patrol. He was nominated for a Golden Globe in 1967 as Best TV Star for his performance in the series. He was also the recipient of a New York Film Festival award as the Best Actor in a Television Commercial. George acted in numerous TV commercials, winning a New York Film Festival Award for his efforts. Appearing in Broadway plays like A Street Car Named Desire and films like Howard Hawks's El Dorado (1966). He became a great friend of John Wayne also in Chisum (1970). George also became a TV star in the wartime adventure series "The Rat Patrol" (1966). He later starred in the science fiction series "The Immortal" (1969) and then returned to filmmaking. He also starred in Project X (1968), The Train Robbers (1973), Midway (1976), Grizzly (1976), Day of the Animals (1977), The Exterminator (1980), Graduation Day (1981), and his last, Mortuary (1983). He also appeared in another 30 other films and TV guest appearances. Served in the Korean War. Entered on October 13, 1948 at Jacksonville, Florida. He attended boot camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina and graduated with a meritorious promotion to Private First Class on December 31, 1948. His first duty station was Headquarters Squadron, Marine Corps Air Station Quantico, Virginia. In April 1950, he transferred to Aircraft Engineering Squadron 12 (AES-12), also located at Quantico where he rose to the rank of Sergeant. During the Korean War, George skippered a Marine Corps crash boat, as well as serving as a gunner aboard the type of rescue aircraft that were used to fly wounded out of Korea. He left active service on August 29, 1952. After the war, as a sergeant in the Marine Corps Reserves, he joined Marine Fighter Squadron 142 (VMF-142) of the Marine Air Reserve Training Command (MARTC), Marine Corps Air Station Miami, Florida. He also served in the 4th Supply Company, in Stockton, California. Finally, he reverted to inactive reserve status where he was assigned to Headquarters, 6th MCR&RD, Atlanta, Georgia, until completing his enlisted service and receiving a discharge on September 3, 1956.
Henry Gibson RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Air Force	American actor and songwriter, best known as a cast member of Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In and for his recurring role as Judge Clark Brown on Boston Legal. Served as an intelligence officer in the 1950s.
Hoot Gibson RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army	American rodeo champion and a pioneer cowboy film actor, director and producer. Served in WW1.
Art Gilmore RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Navy	American voice actor and announcer whose voice has been heard in radio and television programs, movies, trailers, advertising promotions and documentary films. He became the announcer for Amos 'n Andy, The Adventures of Frank Race, Dr. Christian, The Sears Radio Theater, Stars over Hollywood, The Golden Days of Radio and other radio shows. With the advent of television, Gilmore heralded The George Gobel Show, The Red Skelton Show, An Evening with Fred Astaire and many others. He narrated 156 episodes of Highway Patrol with Broderick Crawford, 39 segments of Mackenzie's Raiders, and 41 episodes of Men of Annapolis. His television appearances included The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Adam-12, Emergency!, Dragnet and The Waltons. Served in WW2 as a fighter-director officer aboard an aircraft carrier in the Pacific theater.
Roy Gleason RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army	American Major League Baseball player. He played in eight games for the Los Angeles Dodgers late in the 1963 baseball season. He was used primarily as a pinch runner but he had one official at bat and hit a double. He appeared in eight games for the L.A. Dodgers team that would go on to sweep the Yankees in the World Series. Served in Vietnam. Was drafted In 1967, and on July 24, 1968, he was seriously injured when he took a bunch of shrapnel in his arms and legs, and earned the Purple Heart.
Scott Glenn RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Marine Corps	American actor in film and television. His roles have included Wes Hightower in Urban Cowboy (1980), astronaut Alan Shepard in The Right Stuff (1983), Commander Bart Mancuso in The Hunt for Red October (1990), and Jack Crawford in The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Spent about 8 years in Los Angeles acting small roles in films and doing brief TV stints, including a TV movie "Gargoyles". He appeared in a gothic horror film The Keep, action films like Wild Geese II (1985), Silverado (1985), The Challenge (1982) and the TV film Countdown to Looking Glass (1984), The River (1984) and Off Limits (1988). He returned to Broadway in Burn This (1987). Later he gravitated toward more challenging movie roles, such as in the Freudian farce Reckless (1995), tragicomedy Edie and Pen (1997) and Carla's Song. In the late 90's Glenn alternated between mainstream films (Courage Under Fire (1996), Absolute Power (1997)), and TV (Naked City: A Killer Christmas (1998). He was also cast in a supporting role in Training Day (2001). Served for three years.
Arthur Godfrey RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Navy & U.S. Coast Guard	American radio and television broadcaster and entertainer who was sometimes introduced by his nickname, "The Old Redhead". No television personality of the 1950s enjoyed more clout or fame than Godfrey until an on-camera incident undermined his folksy image and triggered a gradual decline; the then-ubiquitous Godfrey helmed two CBS-TV weekly series and a daily 90-minute television mid-morning show through most of the decade but by the early 1960s found himself reduced to hosting an occasional TV special. Served in the Navy from 1920 to 1924 as a radio operator on naval destroyers, but returned home to care for the family after his father's death. Additional radio training came during Godfrey's service in the Coast Guard from 1927 to 1930.
Joe Golding RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army	American professional Football halfback/defensive back in the National Football League. He played for the Boston Yanks (1947 to 1948) and the New York Bulldogs/Yanks (1949 to 1951). Went on to play halfback and defensive back for 5 years in the NFL and scored a total of 9 TDs as well as making 19 interceptions and recovering 12 fumbles. Played in 58 NFL games. Served in WW2. In the service for 44 months, he was commissioned on the battlefield while an infantry-man in Europe. He was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart.
Gale Gordon RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Coast Guard	American character actor perhaps best remembered as Lucille Ball's longtime television foil and particularly as cantankerously combustible, tightfisted bank executive Theodore J. Mooney, on Ball's second television situation comedy, The Lucy Show. Gordon also had starring roles in Ball's third series, Here's Lucy and her short-lived fourth series, Life with Lucy. Served in WW2 on a ship.
Berry Gordy RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army	American record producer, and the founder of the Motown record label. His Motown formula produced ground breaking artists Marvin Gaye, Mary Wells, Smokey Robinson, Levi Stubbs (of the Four Tops), David Ruffin and Eddie Kendrick (of the Temptations), Diana Ross, Martha Reeves, Stevie Wonder, and the Jackson 5. Gordy was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. Drafted in 1950 for the Korean War.
Bill Graham RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army	American impresario and rock concert promoter from the 1960s until his death. He promoted such music greats as Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, The Grateful Dead, Graham Central Station, Bob Dylan and the Band, Jefferson Starship, Tower of Power, the Doobie Brothers, Santana, Mimi Farina, and Neil Young. While managing artists like Carlos Santana, Van Morrison, Eddie Money, the Neville Brothers, Joe Satriani, and Blues Traveler, he returned to his first love and appeared as an actor in his good friend Francis Coppola's Apocalypse Now, The Cotton Club, and Gardens of Stone. He also played the well-known Mafia boss, Charles Lucky Luciano in Bugsy, Barry Levinson's film starring Warren Beatty. Served in the Korean War. Was drafted in 1951 and served as a forward observer in the 7th Infantry Division whose job it was to go out at night to pinpoint the enemy's location. Wounded, he was awarded the Bronze Star for valor and a Purple Heart.
Peter Graves RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army Air Forces	American film and television actor. He was best known for his starring role in the CBS television series Mission: Impossible from 1967 to 1973. Served in WW2 near the end of the war.
Lorne Greene RETURN TO INDEX	Canadian Army	Canadian radio personality, film and television actor. Best known for his portrayal of Ben Cartwright on the western Bonanza, and Commander Adama in the science fiction movie and subsequent TV Series Battlestar Galactica. He also worked on the Canadian television nature documentary series Lorne Greene's New Wilderness, and in television commercials as a dog food spokesman. In the 1977 miniseries Roots, he played the first master of Kunta Kinte, John Reynolds. For nearly a decade, Greene co-hosted the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC. Served in WW2.
Shecky Greene RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Navy	American comedian known for his nightclub performances in Las Vegas, where he has been a headliner for more than thirty years. He has appeared in several films, including History of the World, Part I and Splash, and has guest starred on such television shows as Mad About You, Laverne & Shirley, Love, American Style and Combat! Served in WW2. Discharged in 1944 after three years of service. His last duty station was the aircraft carrier Bon Homme Richard (CV-31) based in the Pacific Theater.
James Gregory RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Navy & U.S. Marine Corps	American character actor noted for his deep, gravelly voice and playing brash roles such as McCarthy-like Senator John Iselin in The Manchurian Candidate (1962), the audacious General Ursus in Beneath the Planet of the Apes, and loudmouthed Inspector Luger in Barney Miller TV series 1975 to 1982. He also played Dean Martin's spy boss MacDonald, in the Matt Helm movie series, and is fondly remembered for his role as Dr. Tristan Adams, the villainous director of the Tantalus IV Penal Colony on the Star Trek Original Series episode, "Dagger of the Mind". Another of his roles many recall was playing the father of Scott Hayward in Elvis Presley's 1967 musical Clambake. Served in WW2 for 3 years. His tour of duty took him to the Pacific where he spent 83 days on Okinawa.
David Groh RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army	American actor best known for his portrayal of Joe Gerard in the 1970s television series Rhoda, opposite Valerie Harper. Served from 1963 to 1964.
Winston Groom RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army	American novelist and non-fiction writer, best known for his book Forrest Gump, which was adapted into a film in 1994. Upon his return from Vietnam, he worked as a reporter for the Washington Star, a Washington D. C. newspaper covering police and courtroom activities. Groom retired as a journalist at age 32, and began writing his first novel Better Times Than These which was published in 1978. Better Times Than These was about a group of patriotic soldiers in the Vietnam War whose lives and patriotism both are shattered. His next novel As Summers Die (1980) received better recognition. His novel Conversations with the Enemy (1982) follows an American Vietnam War soldier who escapes from a POW camp and takes a plane back to the United States only to be arrested fourteen years later for desertion. Conversations with the Enemy was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1983. Served in Vietnam. A memebr of Army ROTC in college, he graduated in 1965 and served from 1965 to 1969 in the service, including a tour of duty in the Vietnam War.
Robert Guillaume RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army	American stage and television actor, best known for his role as Benson Du Bois on the TV-series Soap and the spin-off Benson, voicing the mandrill Rafiki in The Lion King and as Isaac Jaffe on Sports Night. In a career that has spanned more than 50 years he has worked extensively on stage (including a Tony Award nomination), television (including winning two Emmy Awards), and film. Dates and stations unknown.
Alec Guinness RETURN TO INDEX	Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve	English actor, he was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. He later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai. His most prominent role in his later career was as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars trilogy. Served in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve in WW2. Serving first as a seaman in 1941 and being commissioned the following year. He commanded a landing craft taking part in the invasion of Sicily and Elba and later ferried supplies to the Yugoslav partisans. During the war, he was granted leave to appear in the Broadway production of Terence Rattigan's play Flare Path about the RAF Bomber Command.
Clu Gulager RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Marine Corps	American television and film actor. He is particularly noted for his co-starring role as William H. Bonney (Billy The Kid) in the 1960 to 1962 NBC TV series The Tall Man and for his role in the later NBC series The Virginian. He also appeared in the racing film Winning (1969), with Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, and was the protagonist Burt in the horror movie The Return of the Living Dead (1985). Served from 1946 to 1948, stationed at Camp Pendleton.
Fred Gwynne RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Navy	American actor. Gwynne was best known for his roles in the 1960s sitcoms Car 54, Where Are You? and The Munsters, as well as his later roles: Pet Sematary and My Cousin Vinny. He was also recognised for his distinctive baritone voice. Served in WW2 in the Pacific Theater as a radioman aboard a subchaser, a small combat ship specially designed to destroy enemy submarines.

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