I Served Too - R R R R

C. J. Ramone RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Marine Corps	American musician, born Christopher Joseph Ward, best known as the bassist for punk rock group The Ramones from 1989 to 1996. Ward replaced original band member Dee Dee Ramone, though Dee Dee continued to write songs for the group. C.J. sang many well-known Ramones songs, and gave The Ramones a younger image. In the documentary End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones it states that when C.J. joined the Ramones he was seen as a breath of fresh air into the band. Served in the mid 1980s.
Tony Randall RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army	American actor, comic, producer and director. His breakthrough role was as history teacher Harvey Weskit in Mr. Peepers (1952 to 1955). In 1970 played fussbudget Felix Unger in The Odd Couple, opposite Jack Klugman. Randall's other film roles included Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957), The Mating Game (1959), Pillow Talk (1959), Let's Make Love (1960), Boys' Night Out (1962), The Brass Bottle (1964), Hello Down There (1969), The King of Comedy (1983) and Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990). Served for four years with the Army Signal Corps in WW2, refusing an entertainment assignment with Special Services.
John Randolph RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army Air Forces	American film, television and stage actor. Made his film debut with The Naked City (1948). Randolph flourish in films and TV following this breakthrough with important roles in Serpico (1973), Frances (1982), Prizzi's Honor (1985) and You've Got Mail (1998), along with the TV movies The Missiles of October (1974) (TV) and "Lincoln" (1975) (mini). He also played the recurring role of Roseanne's father on her popular sitcom. In 1987, he was the recipient of both Tony and Drama Desk awards for his close-to-home portrayal of a Communist, left-wing grandfather in Neil Simon's "Broadway Bound". Served in WW2.
Basil Rathbone RETURN TO INDEX	British Army	South African-born English actor. He rose to prominence in England as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in over 70 films, primarily costume dramas, swashbucklers, and, occasionally, horror films. He frequently portrayed suave villains or morally ambiguous characters, such as Murdstone in David Copperfield (1935) and Sir Guy of Gisbourne in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). His most famous role, however, was heroic - that of Sherlock Holmes in fourteen Hollywood films made between 1939 and 1946 and in a radio series. His later career included Broadway and television work; he received a Tony Award in 1948 as Best Actor in a Play. In 1916, he enlisted for the remaining duration of WW1, joining the London Scottish Regiment as a private. He later transferred with a commission as a lieutenant to the Liverpool Scottish, 2nd Battalion, where he served as an intelligence officer and eventually attained the rank of captain. During the war, Rathbone displayed a penchant for disguise (a skill which he coincidentally shared with what would become perhaps his most memorable character, Sherlock Holmes), when on one occasion, in order to have better visibility, Rathbone convinced his superiors to allow him to scout enemy positions during daylight hours instead of during the night, as was the usual practice in order to minimise the chance of detection by the enemy. Rathbone completed the mission successfully through his skillful use of camouflage, which allowed him to escape detection by the enemy. In September 1918, he was awarded the Military Cross.
Lou Rawls RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army	American soul, jazz, and blues singer. He was known for his smooth vocal style. Rawls released more than 70 albums, sold more than 40 million records, appeared as an actor in motion pictures and on television, and voiced-over many cartoons. Velvet-voiced singer with a four-octave range known for such signature hits as "You'll Never Find (Another Love Like Mine)," "Lady Love" and "Love is a Hurtin' Thing." Lou Rawls who won three Grammy awards and 13 nominations over a nearly 50 year career, covered almost every form of African-American music from Gospel and Blues to R & B, Soul and Jazz. Served as a paratrooper in the Army's 82nd Airborne Divison from 1956 to 1958.
Aldo Ray RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Navy	American Actor. Born Aldo DaRe. In his first film as Aldo Ray, he starred in The Marrying Kind (1952). That same year, he appeared in Pat and Mike, which led to his nomination for a Golden Globe as Best Newcomer. The following year he starred opposite Rita Hayworth in Miss Sadie Thompson (1953). During 1956, in between appearances in Three Stripes In The Sun and Men in War, Ray tried his hand at radio, working as a personality and announcer at Syracuse, New York hit music station WNDR. By 1957, he had left the radio business. He would appear in 11 films during the following 11 years (1957 to 1968), the busiest period of his film career. Aldo's work in the 1960s included The Day They Robbed the Bank of England, What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? and Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round. His best known work of the decade, however, was his portrayal of Sergeant Muldoon, alongside John Wayne, in The Green Berets. Aldo also did two pilots for television in the 1960s,although none were picked up. Some of his later films were Dynamite Brothers (1974), Black Samurai (1977), Don't Go Near the Park (1981), Evils of the Night (1985), and his last film Shock 'Em Dead (1991). Served in WW2. In 1944, at the age of eighteen, he joined the service where he served as a frogman until 1946 and saw action at Okinawa with UDT-17
Gene Raymond RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army Air Forces	American film, television, and stage actor of the 1930s and 1940s. His most notable films, mostly as a second lead actor, include Red Dust (1932), Zoo in Budapest (1933), Ex-Lady (1933), Flying Down to Rio (1933), I Am Suzanne (1934), Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1941), and The Locket (1946). Served in WW2 commissioned a lieutenant. He served as an observer aboard B-17 anti-submarine flights along the Atlantic coast before attending intelligence school and shipping out to England in July 1942. He served with the 97th Bomb Group before taking over as assistant operations officer in the 8th Bomber Command. He was transferred back to the U.S. in 1943 and piloted a variety of aircraft, both bombers and fighters, in stateside duties. He remained in the Reserve following the war, retiring in 1968 as a colonel.
Ronald Reagan RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army & U.S. Army Air Forces	American film actor, 40th President of the United States (1981 to 1989), the 33rd Governor of California (1967 to 1975). Reagan co-starred in such films as, The Voice of the Turtle, John Loves Mary, The Hasty Heart, Bedtime for Bonzo, Cattle Queen of Montana, Tennessee's Partner, Hellcats of the Navy and The Killers (his final film) in a 1964 remake. Enlisted in the Army Enlisted Reserve on April 29, 1937, as a private. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Officers Reserve Corps of the Cavalry on May 25, 1937. Ordered to active duty on April 18, 1942. Due to his nearsightedness, he was classified for limited service only, which excluded him from serving overseas. First assignment was at the San Francisco Port of Embarkation at Fort Mason, California, as a liaison officer of the Port and Transportation Office. Assigned to AAF Public Relations and subsequently to the 1st Motion Picture Unit (officially, the "18th AAF Base Unit") in Culver City, California. On January 14, 1943 he was promoted to First Lieutenant and was sent to the Provisional Task Force Show Unit of This Is The Army at Burbank, California. He returned to the 1st Motion Picture Unit after completing this duty and was promoted to Captain on July 22, 1943. In January 1944, Captain Reagan was ordered to temporary duty in New York City to participate in the opening of the sixth War Loan Drive. He was re-assigned to the 18th AAF Base Unit on November 14, 1944, where he remained until the end of World War II.
Harry Reasoner RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army	American journalist for ABC and CBS News, known for his inventive use of language as a television commentator, and as a founder of the 60 Minutes program. Served in WW2. Drafted and served from 1943 to 1946.
Harry Reems RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Marine Corps	American pornographic actor of the 1970s and star of the 1972 cult classic Deep Throat. Born Herbert Streicher, he began to appear in dozens of short, silent stag films, often referred to as "loops," during the early 1970s. He eventually went on to appear in approximately 140 feature-length sexploitation and hardcore films between 1971 and 1989, with Deep Throat (1972) and The Devil in Miss Jones (1973) being the best known, as well as roughies like Forced Entry (1973) and Sex Wish (1976). Drafted in 1965 but never served overseas. He was home on leave and came down with pneumonia when his unit got their orders to Vietnam. His father became terminally ill and he applied for a hardship discharge.
George Reeves RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army & U.S. Army Air Forces	American actor best known for his role as Superman in the 1950s television program Adventures of Superman. Drafted into the U.S. Army in early 1943. He was assigned to the U.S. Army Air Forces and performed in the USAAF's Broadway show Winged Victory. The long Broadway run was followed by a national tour and a movie version. He was then transferred to the Army Air Forces' First Motion Picture Unit, where he made training films.
Steve Reeves RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army	American bodybuilder and actor. At the peak of his career, he was the highest-paid actor in Europe. In 1946, at the age of 20, he won "Mr. Pacific Coast" in Oregon, which led to his titles of "Mr. Western America" (1947), Mr. America" (1947), "Mr. World" (1948) and, ultimately, "Mr. Universe" (1950). He made several appearances on variety shows of the early-to-mid 1950s and non-starring roles during 1954 in two films: Athena (1954) starring Debbie Reynolds and Ed Wood's Jail Bait (1954). In 1957, he had been called to Italy to play the lead role Hercules in "Le Fatiche di Ercole" which was filmed during the summer and autumn of 1957 with a USA premiere in 1959. The tremendous worldwide success of "Hercules," (the USA title), led to a sequel and many other Italian epic films many based on heroes played by Reeves. These roles included Romulus, Phillipides, Captain Henry Morgan, Glaucus, and Sandokan. Served in WW2 in the Pacific. He was assigned to Company A of the 25th Division and was sent to the front lines in the Philippines where he endured to continue his bodybuilding training, becoming known as "The Shape" among his fellow GIs. After WW2 had ended he was part of the occupational forces sent to Japan and was stationed there from September 1945 to September 1946.
Carl Reiner RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army	American actor, film director, producer, writer and comedian. He has won nine Emmy Awards and one Grammy Award during this career. In 1959, Reiner developed a television pilot, Head of the Family, based on his experience on the Caesar shows. However, the network didn't like Reiner in the lead role. In 1961, it was recast and retitled, The Dick Van Dyke Show, which became an iconic series, making stars of his lead actors Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. The show ran from 1961 to 1966. In 1966, he co-starred in the Norman Jewison film The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming. Probably the best-known films of his early directing career were the cult comedy Where's Poppa? (1970), starring George Segal and Ruth Gordon, Oh, God! (1977) with George Burns and "The Jerk" (1979) with Steve Martin. In 2000, Reiner was honored with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Served in the Special Services during WW2.
Bert Remsen RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Navy	American actor. He played character roles in numerous films including: Brewster McCloud (1970), McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), Thieves Like Us (1974), California Split (1974), Nashville (1975), Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976), A Wedding (1978), Dallas (1987) and Daddy's Dyin'...Who's Got the Will? (1990). Served in WW2 in the Pacific Theater as a coxswain on a destroyer. Awarded the Purple Heart during his tour of duty.
Michael Rennie RETURN TO INDEX	Royal Air Force	English film, television, and stage actor, perhaps best known for his starring role as the space visitor Klaatu in the 1951 classic science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still. His first acting job was that of stand-in for Robert Young in Secret Agent (1936). He put his film career on hold for a few years to get some acting experience on the stage, working in repertory in York and Windsor and service in WW2. Afterwards, he returned to films and achieved star status in I'll Be Your Sweetheart (1945). Some of his films were The Black Rose (1950), Les Misérables (1952), Soldier of Fortune (1955), Island in the Sun (1957), The Lost World (1960), The Devil's Brigade (1968), as General Mark Clark, Subterfuge (1968), and Dracula vs. Frankenstein (1969/1970). Served in WW2. Joined in 1941 and trained as a fighter pilot in the U.S. under the Arnold Plan. Served at Napier Field, Dothan, Alabama for his advanced flight training.
James Reynolds RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Marine Corps	American TV actor who plays Mayor Abe Carver on the extremely long-running NBC dramatic series Days of our Lives, a character he originated in 1981 and has played ever since. He has been on contract with the show since 1981 with only two short breaks in 1991 and 2003 where he still appeared as a recurring character. He is the only actor to play the role of Abe Carver. Before appearing on Days of our Lives, he had previously appeared in the short lived 1979 CBS series Time Express. Served in Vietnam. After boot camp he was assigned to the Information Service Office where, first stationed in Hawaii, he became a reporter for the service newspaper, The Windward Marine. Later he was sent to Vietnam and served for almost a year with a variety of units in and around Chu Lai, adding battlefield reporting to his combat duties, until a wound resulted in his discharge.
Buddy Rich RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Marine Corps	American jazz drummer and bandleader. Rich was billed as "the world's greatest drummer" and was known for his virtuosic technique, power, groove, and speed. In 1942, he left the Dorsey band to join the service. He rejoined the Dorsey group after leaving the Marines two years later.
Charlie Rich RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Air Force	American country music singer and musician. A Grammy Award winner, his eclectic-style of music was often hard to classify in a single genre, playing in the rockabilly, jazz, blues, country, and gospel genres. The title track from his 1973 album, Behind Closed Doors, became a number one hit early in that year, crossing over into the Top 20 on the pop charts. The follow-up, "The Most Beautiful Girl" spent three weeks at the top of the country charts and two weeks at the top of the pop charts. Behind Closed Doors won three awards from the Country Music Association that year: Best Male Vocalist, Album of the Year, and Single of the Year. The album was also certified gold. Rich won a Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance, and he took home four ACM awards. Served in the early 1950s.
J.P. Richardson, Jr. RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army	American disc jockey, singer, and songwriter born Jiles Perry "J. P." Richardson, Jr. also commonly known as The Big Bopper. His big voice and exuberant personality made him an early rock and roll star. He is best known for his recording of "Chantilly Lace". In May 1957, he broke the record for continuous on-the-air radio broadcasting by eight minutes. Richardson performed for a total of five days, two hours and eight minutes, playing 1,821 records and taking showers during five-minute newscasts. On February 3, 1959, a day that has become known as The Day the Music Died Richardson was killed in a plane crash in Iowa, along with Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens. Drafted in 1955 and did his basic training at Fort Ord, California. He spent the rest of his two years service as a radar instructor at Fort Bliss, near El Paso, Texas. Following his discharge as a corporal in March 1957 he returned to radio.
Don Rickles RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Navy	American stand-up comedian and actor. A frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Rickles has acted in comedic and dramatic roles, but is best known as an insult comic. However, unlike many insult comics who only find short-lived success, Rickles has enjoyed a sustained career, thanks to a distinct sense of humor, a very sharp wit and impeccable timing. Served during WW2 on the USS Cyrene (AGP-13) as a seaman first class in the U.S. 7th Fleet in the Pacific Theater. He was honorably discharged in 1946.
Bobby Riggs RETURN TO INDEX	Unknown	American professional tennis player in 1930s and 1940s who was the World No. 1 or the co-World No. 1 player for three years, first as an amateur in 1941, then as a professional in 1946 and 1947. He played his first professional tennis match on December 26, 1941. After being mostly forgotten for many years, he gained far more fame in 1973 at the age of 55 by challenge matches against two of the top female players in the world. "The Battle of the Sexes" match against Billie Jean King was one of the most famous tennis events of all time, in which he lost. Served in WW2, most likely with the U.S.O.
Julian Rios RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Marine Corps	American pornographic actor born. Entered the world of adult films at the age of 25. From its inception in December 2002, he hosted cable television program Spice Hotel, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings on Spice Live, which focused on porn star couples. He is one of the few male porn stars to be offered a production contract with a large adult production company. In 1999 he received the XRCO Award for Best Male-Female Couple with Gwen Summers in Nothing to Hide 3 & 4. Served in the Gulf War. Based at Camp Pendleton, 1988 to 1994.
Hal Roach RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army Air Forces	American film and television producer and director from the 1910s to the 1990s. He began producing short comedies in 1915 with his friend Harold Lloyd. During the 1920s and 1930s, he employed Lloyd (his top money-maker until his departure in 1923), Will Rogers, the Our Gang kids and, most famously, Laurel & Hardy. Called to active military duty in June 1942, at age 50, working in stateside movie studios where the output he oversaw in uniform was converted from entertainment featurettes to military training films. The studios were leased to the U.S. Army Air Forces, and the First Motion Picture Unit made 400 training, morale and propaganda films at "Fort Roach." Members of the unit included Ronald Reagan.
Jason Robards RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Navy	American actor on stage and in film and television and a winner of the Tony Award (theatre), two Academy Awards (film) and the Emmy Award (television). Served as a radioman 3rd class during WW2 on the USS Northampton (CA-26) in 1941. On December 7, 1941 he was aboard the Northampton in the Pacific Ocean 100 miles at sea. The Northampton was later directed into the Guadalcanal campaign in World War II's Pacific theater, where she participated in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. During the Battle of Tassafaronga on Guadalcanal on the night of November 30, 1942, the Northampton was sunk by hits from two Japanese torpedoes. He found himself treading water until near daybreak, when he was rescued by an American destroyer warship. Two years later, in November 1944, he was in another dramatic engagement — this time as a radioman on the USS Nashville (CL-43) which was the flagship for the Invasion of Mindoro in the northern Philippines. On December 13, she was struck by a kamikaze aircraft off Negros Island in the Philippines. Nashville was forced to return to Pearl Harbor and then to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, for repairs.
Marty Robbins RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Navy	American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. One of the most popular and successful country and Western singers of his era, for most of his nearly four-decade career. Robbins's 1957 recording of "A White Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. His musical accomplishments include the Grammy Award for his 1959 hit and signature song "El Paso", taken from his album Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs. "El Paso" was the first song to hit #1 on the pop chart in the 1960s. It was followed up, successfully, by "Don't Worry", which reached #3 on the pop chart in 1961, becoming his third, and last, Top 10 pop hit. He won the Grammy Award for the Best Country & Western Recording 1961, for his follow-up album More Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs, and was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Country Song in 1970, for "My Woman, My Woman, My Wife". Robbins was named Artist of the Decade (1960 to 1969) by the Academy of Country Music, was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1982, and was given a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1998 for his song "El Paso". Robbins was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1975. For his contribution to the recording industry, Robbins has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6666 Hollywood Blvd. Served in WW2. Left home at the age of 17 to serve. Was a landingcraft (LCT) coxswain, stationed in the Solomon Islands in the Pacific. To pass the time during the war, he learned to play the guitar, started writing songs, and came to love Hawaiian music. He was discharged from the military in 1945.
Dale Robertson RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army	American actor best known for his starring roles on television. He played the role of Jim Hardie in the TV series, Tales of Wells Fargo, and the owner of an incomplete railroad line in ABC's The Iron Horse, often appearing as the deceptively thoughtful but modest western hero with a deliberately slow south-western drawl. After a long career that included 63 films. Served in WW2. After stateside training he served as a tank commander in the 777th Tank Battalion in the North African campaign. He was standing in the hatch when his tank was hit by enemy fire. His tank crew were killed, but he was blown out of the hatch and survived with shrapnel wounds to his lower legs (awarded the Purple Heart), the scars of which he still bears. Fully recovered, he went on to serve with the 322nd Combat Engineer Battalion during the European campaign. He was wounded a second time, this one in the right knee during a mortar attack, earning a second Purple Heart. Again he made a complete recovery.
Bill Robinson RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army	American tap dancer and actor of stage and film. Known as Bill "Bojangles" Robinson audiences enjoyed his understated style, which eschewed the frenetic manner of the jitterbug in favor of cool and reserve; rarely did he use his upper body, relying instead on busy, inventive feet and an expressive face. A figure in both the Black and White entertainment worlds of his era, he is best known today for his dancing with Shirley Temple in a series of films during the 1930s. Served as a rifleman in WW1 with New York's 15th Infantry Regiment, National Guard. The Regiment was renamed the 369th Infantry while serving under France's Fourth Army and earned the nickname the "Harlem Hellfighters". Along with serving in the trenches in WW1, Robinson was also the 369th "Hellfighters Band" drum major and led the regimental band up Fifth Avenue on the 369th's return from overseas.
Jackie Robinson RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army	American Major League Baseball player. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. As the first black man to play in the major leagues since the 1880s, he was instrumental in bringing an end to racial segregation in professional baseball, which had relegated black players to the Negro leagues for six decades. In 1942, he was drafted and assigned to a segregated Army cavalry unit in Fort Riley, Kansas. Having the requisite qualifications, he applied for admission to an Officer Candidate School (OCS) then located at Fort Riley. Upon finishing OCS, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in January 1943 and reassigned to Fort Hood, Texas, where he joined the 761st "Black Panthers" Tank Battalion. He then faced racial segregation based charges from an incident on a bus. Although his former unit, the 761st Tank Battalion, became the first black tank unit to see combat in WW2, Robinson's court-martial proceedings prohibited him from being deployed overseas, thus he never saw combat action. After his acquittal, he was transferred to Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky, where he served as a coach for army athletics until receiving an honorable discharge in November 1944.
Sugar Ray Robinson RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army	American professional boxer. Frequently cited as the greatest boxer of all time, Robinson's performances in the welterweight and middleweight divisions prompted sportswriters to create "pound for pound" rankings, where they compared fighters regardless of weight. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. Robinson was 85-0 as an amateur with 69 of those victories coming by way of knockout, 40 in the first round. He turned professional in 1940 at the age of 19 and by 1951 had a professional record of 128-1-2 with 84 knockouts. Robinson held the world welterweight title from 1946 to 1951, and won the world middleweight title in the latter year. He retired in 1952, only to come back two and a half years later and regain the middleweight title in 1955. Inducted in February 1943 where he was again referred to as Walker Smith. Robinson had a short 15 month military career. Robinson served with Joe Louis, and the pair went on tours where they performed exhibition bouts in front of U.S. troops. Robinson was granted an honorable discharge on June 3, 1944.
Gene Roddenberry RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army Air Forces	American television screenwriter, producer and futurist, best known for creating the American science fiction series Star Trek. Roddenberry wrote scripts for Highway Patrol, Have Gun, Will Travel and other series, before creating and producing his own television program, The Lieutenant. In 1941, he joined the service. He flew combat missions in the Pacific Theatre with the "Bomber Barons" of the 394th Bomb Squadron, 5th Bombardment Wing of the Thirteenth Air Force and on August 2, 1943, Roddenberry was piloting a B-17E Flying Fortress named the "Yankee Doodle", from Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides when mechanical failure caused it to crash on take-off. In total, he flew 89 missions for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal before leaving the Army Air Forces in 1945.
Cesar Romero RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Coast Guard	Cuban American film and television actor, who played The Joker in the 1960s television series Batman. In 1966, the show was transferred to movie theaters, and Romero became the first actor to portray the Joker in a motion picture. In October 1942, he voluntarily enlisted and served in the Pacific Theater. He reported aboard the Coast Guard-manned assault transport USS Cavalier (APA-37) in November, 1943. According to a press release from the period he saw action during the invasions of Tinian and Saipan. The same article mentioned that he preferred to be a regular part of the crew and was eventually promoted to the rank of chief Boatswain's Mate.
Micky Rooney RETURN TO INDEX	Unknown	American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. During his career he has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award. Working as a performer since he was a small child, he was a superstar as a teenager for the films in which he played Andy Hardy, and he has had one of the longest careers of any actor, to date spanning more than 80 years. For a younger generation of fans, he gained international fame for his leading role as Henry Dailey in The Family Channel's The Adventures of the Black Stallion, as well as the film itself. In 1944, he entered military service. He served more than 21 months, until shortly after the end of WW2. During and after the war he helped entertain the troops in America and Europe, and spent part of the time as a radio personality on the American Forces Network.
Hayden Rorke RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army	American actor best known for playing the psychiatrist Col. Dr. Alfred E. Bellows on the hit 60's sitcom I Dream of Jeannie. During WW2, he enlisted into the army, where he made his film debut in the musical This is the Army (1943) starring Ronald Reagan, for which he was uncredited as the stage manager and as a soldier in the background.
David Rose RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army	British-born American songwriter, composer, arranger, pianist, and orchestra leader. His most famous compositions were "The Stripper", "Holiday for Strings", and "Calypso Melody". He also wrote music for many television series, including It's a Great Life, Little House on the Prairie, Highway To Heaven, Bonanza, and Highway Patrol under the pseudonym "Ray Llewellyn." Rose's work in composing music for television programs earned him four Emmys. In addition, Rose was musical director for The Red Skelton Show during its 21-year-run on the CBS and NBC networks. Served in WW2. On November 2, 1942 he enlisted into the U.S. Army and served for 3 years where he met Red Skelton.
Barney Ross RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Marine Corps	American world champion boxer in three weight divisions. Ross occupies the rarifed place as one of boxing's few triple division champions - lightweight, junior welterweight and welterweight. He was never knocked out in 81 fights, and held his title against some of the best competition in the history of the divisions. Ross defeated great Hall of Fame champions like Jimmy McLarnin and Tony Canzoneri in epic battles that drew crowds of more than 50,000. Ross retired with a record of 72 wins, 4 losses, 3 draws and 2 no-contests, with 22 wins by knockout. He was ranked #21 on Ring Magazine's list of the 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years. Served in WW2. Enlisted in his early 30s. The Marines wanted to keep him stateside and use his celebrity status to boost morale. Was sent to Guadalcanal in the South Pacific. One night, he and three other comrades were trapped under enemy fire. All four were wounded; Ross was the only one able to fight. Ross gathered his comrades' rifles and grenades and single-handedly fought nearly two dozen Japanese soldiers over an entire night, killing them all by morning. Two of the Marines died, but he carried the third on his shoulders to safety; the other man weighed 230 lb (104 kg) compared to Ross' 140 lb (64 kg). Ross was awarded America's third highest military honor, the Silver Star, as well as a Purple Heart and Presidential Unit Citation.
Joe E. Ross RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army Air Forces	American actor known for his trademark "Ooh! Ooh!" exclamation, which he used in many of his roles. He starred in such TV sitcoms as The Phil Silvers Show and Car 54, Where Are You?. Served in WW2 at Camp Blanding, Florida, before being stationed in England.
Dan Rowan RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army Air Forces	American comedian, featured in the television show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, where he played straight man to Dick Martin. Served in WW2 as a fighter pilot. He flew Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighters and shot down two Japanese aircraft before he was downed and seriously wounded over New Guinea. His military decorations include the Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, Purple Heart, and Air Medal.
Harold Russell RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army	Canadian-American World War II veteran who became one of only two non-professional actors to win an Academy Award for acting in The Best Years of Our Lives. He also holds the unique honor of being the only person to receive two Academy Awards for the same role. Served in WW2. While an instructor, and training with the U.S. 13th Airborne Division stateside in 1944, a defective fuse detonated an explosive he was handling while making a training film. As a result, he lost both hands and was given two hooks to serve as hands.
John Russell RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Marine Corps	American actor, most noted for playing Marshal Dan Troop in the successful ABC western television series Lawman from 1958 to 1962. He appeared in motion pictures for Warner Brothers, notably as the villain in Yellowstone Kelly and in the1959 western, Rio Bravo. Throughout the 1960s to the 1980s, he returned to secondary roles, appearing in more than twenty films, including three directed by his friend Clint Eastwood. Served in WW2, though he was initially rejected because of his height of 6 ft 4 in He was commissioned as second lieutenant on November 11, 1942, and was assigned to the 6th Marine Regiment. He received a battlefield commission, was wounded (awarded the Purple Heart) and highly decorated for valor at Guadalcanal. He later served as an assistant intelligence officer, contracted malaria and returned home with a medical discharge.
Nipsey Russell RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Army	American comedian, best known today for his appearances as a guest panelist on game shows from the 1960s through the 1990s, especially Match Game, Password, Hollywood Squares, To Tell the Truth and Pyramid. His appearances were distinguished in part by the short, humorous poems he would recite during the broadcast. He served as a medic during WW2, enlisting as a private on June 27, 1941, was commissioned as a captain in the field, and returned from Europe in 1945.
Robert Ryan RETURN TO INDEX	U.S. Marine Corps	American actor who often played hardened cops and ruthless villains. His breakthrough film role was as an anti-Semitic killer in Crossfire (1947). Some of his early flims include On Dangerous Ground (1951), The Set-Up (1949), The Naked Spur (1953), House of Bamboo (1955), Bad Day at Black Rock (1955), and Odds Against Tomorrow (1959). He also appeared in several all-star war films, including The Longest Day (1962) and Battle of the Bulge (1965), and The Dirty Dozen (1967). He appeared several times on the Broadway stage. His credits there include Clash by Night, Mr. President and The Front Page. Served in WW2. In 1944 he enlisted and served as a drill instructor at Camp Pendleton, in San Diego, California.

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