Willie Nelson
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U.S. Air Force
 |
American country singer-songwriter, author, poet, actor, and activist. Nelson started
studying music from mail order
material that his grandparents gave him. He worked as a
disc jockey in Texas
radio stations and a singer in
honky tonks. In 1960, he signed a
publishing contract
with Pamper Music which allowed him to join
Ray Price's band as a
bassist.
During that time, he wrote songs that would become country
standards, including "Funny
How Time Slips Away", "Hello
Walls", "Pretty Paper",
and "Crazy".
In 1965 he joined the
Grand Ole Opry. In 1973
Nelson turned to outlaw
country, including albums such as
Shotgun Willie and
Phases and Stages. During the mid
1980s, while
creating hit albums like
Honeysuckle Rose and recording hit songs like "On
the Road Again", "To
All the Girls I've Loved Before", and "Pancho
& Lefty", he joined the country
supergroup
The Highwaymen, along with fellow singers,
Johnny Cash,
Waylon Jennings, and
Kris Kristofferson.
Joined the service in 1950, the year the Korean War broke out, drawing
him to join the service. He served for nine months, but was
discharged after a doctor diagnosed chronic back problems. |
Michael Nesmith
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U.S. Air Force
|
American musician, songwriter, actor, producer, novelist, businessman,
and philanthropist, best known as a member of the musical group
The Monkees and star of the TV series of the same name.
Nesmith is notable as a songwriter, including
Different Drum, as well as executive producer of the
cult
film
Repo Man. In 1981 Nesmith won the first Grammy Award given for
Video of the Year for his hour-long
Elephant Parts. In 1998, Nesmith published his first novel,
The Long Sandy Hair of Neftoon Zamora.
Served 14 months in the early 1960s. |
Bob Newhart
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U.S. Army
|
American
stand-up comedian and
actor. Noted for his
deadpan and slightly
stammering delivery. He starring in two long-running and
prize-winning situation comedies, first as psychologist Dr. Robert "Bob"
Hartley on the
1970s
sitcom
The Bob
Newhart Show and then as innkeeper Dick Loudon on the
1980s
sitcom
Newhart.
Drafted and served stateside during the
Korean War as a
personnel manager until discharged in 1954. |
Paul Newman
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U.S. Navy
 |
American actor,
film director,
entrepreneur,
humanitarian, professional racing driver and
auto racing
enthusiast. He won numerous awards, including an
Academy Award
for best actor for his performance in the 1986
Martin Scorsese
film
The
Color of Money and eight other nominations, three
Golden Globe Awards, a
BAFTA Award, a
Screen
Actors Guild Award, a
Cannes Film Festival Award, an
Emmy award, and
many honorary awards. He also won several national championships as a
driver in
Sports
Car Club of America road racing, and his race teams won several
championships in
open wheel
IndyCar racing. Newman was a co-founder of
Newman's Own, a
food company from which Newman donated all post-tax profits and
royalties to charity.
Served during WW2 in the
Pacific theater. Enrolled in the Navy V-12 program at
Ohio University,
hoping to be accepted for pilot training, but was dropped when it was
discovered he was
color blind, sent instead to train as a radioman and gunner. Qualifying as a
rear-seat radioman and gunner in
torpedo bombers, he was assigned to Pacific-based replacement
torpedo squadrons (VT-98, VT-99, and VT-100). These torpedo
squadrons were responsible primarily for training replacement pilots and
combat air crewmen, placing particular importance on carrier landings.
He later flew from
aircraft carriers as a turret gunner in an
Avenger torpedo bomber. As a radioman-gunner, he served aboard the
USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) during the
Battle of
Okinawa in the spring of 1945.
|
Leslie Nielsen
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Royal Canadian Air Force
 |
Canadian and
naturalized American actor and comedian. Nielsen appeared in
over one hundred films and 1,500 television programs over the span of
his career, portraying over 220 characters. His deadpan delivery
in
Airplane!
(1980) marked a turning point in his career. Nielsen enjoyed
further success with
The Naked Gun film series (1988 to 1994), based on a
short-lived television series
Police Squad!
Enlisted in the service and
was trained as an aerial gunner during the latter part of WW2 but was
too young to be fully trained or sent overseas. |
Leonard Nimoy
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U.S. Army
|
American actor, film director, poet, musician and photographer. Nimoy's
most famous role is that of Spock in
the original Star Trek series (1966 to 1969), multiple films,
television and video game sequels. Nimoy began his career in his
early twenties, teaching acting classes in Hollywood and making minor
film and television appearances through the 1950s, as well as playing
the title role in
Kid Monk Baroni. In 1965, he made his first appearance in the
rejected Star Trek pilot, "The
Cage", and would go on to play the character of Mr. Spock until
1969, followed by seven further feature films and a number of guest
slots in various sequels. His character of Spock generated a
significant cultural impact and three Emmy Award nominations; TV Guide
named Spock one of the 50 greatest TV characters. Nimoy also had a
recurring role in
Mission: Impossible and a narrating role in
Civilization IV, as well as several well-received stage appearances.
Served as a sergeant from 1953 through 1955 in Special Services at Fort
McPherson, Georgia.
|
David Niven
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British Army
|
British
actor and
novelist, best known for his roles as
Phileas Fogg in
Around the World in 80 Days and Sir Charles Lytton, a.k.a. "the
Phantom," in
The Pink Panther. He was awarded the 1958
Academy Award for Best Actor in
Separate Tables.
Served in the pre-WW2 army.
After the United Kingdom declared war in 1939, he returned to Britain
and rejoined the Army. Took part in the
Invasion of
Normandy, arriving several days after
D-Day.
|
Chuck Norris
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U.S. Air Force
|
American
martial artist and
actor. Norris appeared in a number of action films, such as
Way of the
Dragon in which he starred alongside
Bruce Lee and was
The Cannon Group's
leading star in the 1980s. He next played the starring role in the
television series
Walker,
Texas Ranger from 1993 to 2001.
1958 to 1962. Served as an
Air Policeman (AP) at
Osan Air Base,
South Korea and
at
March Air Force Base, California. |
Jay North
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U.S. Navy
|
American actor best
remembered for his lead role in the
CBS sitcom
Dennis the Menace, which ran from 1959 to 1963.
Served in the
early 1970s. |
Oliver North
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U.S. Marine Corps
 |
American retired U.S. Marine
Corps officer, political commentator, host of
War Stories with Oliver North on Fox News Channel, a military
historian, and a New York Times best-selling author. North was at
the center of national attention during the
Iran-Contra affair, a political scandal of the late 1980s.
North has written several best-selling books including Under Fire, One
More Mission, War Stories - Operation Iraqi Freedom,
Mission Compromised, The Jericho Sanction, and The Assassins.
North is a regular commentator on
Hannity,
on the Fox News Channel. He appeared as himself on many television
shows including the sitcom
Wings in 1991, and three episodes of the TV military drama
JAG in 1995, 1996 and 2002.
Served in Vietnam. As as a platoon leader during combat service,
he was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star and two Purple Heart medals.
He then became an instructor at The Basic School in Quantico. In
1971 he served as commanding officer of the Marine Corps Northern
Training Area in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. After Okinawa, North
was assigned for four years to Marine Headquarters in Arlington,
Virginia, for four years. He was promoted to Major, and then
served two years as operations officer of 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine
Regiment, 2nd Marine Division in Camp Lejeune. He attended the
Command and Staff Course at the Naval War College and graduated in 1981.
North then served at the National Security Council (NSC) in Washington,
D.C., where he served as the deputy director for political-military
affairs from 1981 until his reassignment in 1986. In 1983, North
received his promotion to Lieutenant Colonel which would be his last.
During his tenure at the NSC, North managed a number of highly sensitive
missions. This included leading the hunt for those responsible for
the
1983 Beirut barracks bombing that killed 241 U.S. Marines, an effort
that saw North arranging a midair interception of an EgyptAir jet
carrying those responsible for the
Achille Lauro hijacking. Also at the NSC, he helped plan the
U.S.
invasion of Grenada and the 1986
Bombing of Libya. |
Ken Norton
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U.S. Marine Corps
|
Former
WBC Heavyweight Champion
of the World. He best known for his 12-round victory over Muhammad
Ali by split descision, on March 31, 1973, becoming the second man to
defeat Ali as a professional.
He served from 1963 to 1967,
stationed at Camp Pendleton and Camp Lejeune. He compiling a
24-2 record en route to three All-Marine Heavyweight titles. |
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