13 American Celebrities That Fought in Real Wars

They Didn’t Just Wear the Uniform

Most people know certain actors served in the military. These aren’t stories about celebrities who sat out the war at a stateside desk.

These are stories about men who flew bombing missions, stormed beaches under machine gun fire, and in one case, stood alone on a burning tank.

Some of Hollywood’s biggest names actually fought in combat, got shot at, watched friends die, and came home with wounds and nightmares that never fully healed.

Some won the Medal of Honor. Others earned Purple Hearts. A few nearly died. And most of them rarely talked about what they saw.

Audie Murphy Held Off 250 Germans

Audie Murphy was 19 years old in January 1945 when German tanks and infantry attacked his position at the Colmar Pocket in France.

Murphy mounted an abandoned, burning tank destroyer and began firing its .50 caliber machine gun at the advancing Germans, killing a squad crawling through a ditch.

For an hour, Murphy stood on the flaming tank destroyer, returning German fire from foot soldiers and advancing tanks.

He killed or wounded around 50 enemy soldiers before running out of ammunition. He sustained a leg wound during his stand but refused to leave.

Murphy received the Medal of Honor for valor and became widely celebrated as the most decorated American combat soldier of World War II.

He later starred in over 40 films, including playing himself in “To Hell and Back.”

Jimmy Stewart Commanded Bombing Raids

Jimmy Stewart was already an Academy Award winner when he enlisted in 1941.

Stewart became the first major Hollywood actor to enlist in the military at the onset of the United States’ entry into World War II.

He didn’t want a publicity job.

The actor appealed directly to his superiors and was eventually deployed to England, where he served as the commanding officer of the 703d Bomb Squadron.

He flew 20 combat missions in B-24 bombers over Nazi-occupied Europe, often leading formations of over 100 aircraft into heavy flak.

For his actions, he was awarded two Distinguished Flying Cross medals and the French honor of the Croix de Guerre.

After WWII, Stewart continued to serve in the U.S. Air Force Reserves and would retire at the rank of brigadier general (highest-ranking actor in American military history).

Ted Williams Crash-Landed a Burning Jet

Ted Williams was considered the greatest hitter in baseball when he was recalled to active duty for the Korean War in 1952.

He flew 39 combat missions in the F9F Panther—more than half as the wingman of Major John Glenn, the future astronaut.

On February 16, 1953, his plane was hit by enemy ground fire. His engine started trailing smoke but Williams elected to bring the aircraft back to base.

With his hydraulics shot out and his flaps and landing gear inoperable, he brought the Panther in on its belly.

The plane skidded 1,500 feet before he jumped out and ran off the burning wing.

John Glenn described Williams as one of the best pilots he knew. Williams later said flying was the second-best thing that ever happened to him after baseball.

Charles Bronson Flew 25 Missions Over Japan

Before Charles Bronson became Hollywood’s toughest guy, he grew up in crushing poverty in Pennsylvania coal country.

When he was just 10 years old, Bronson began working in Pennsylvania’s coal mines to help his family survive. In 1943, he enlisted in the Army Air Forces.

Bronson initially served with the 760th Flexible Gunnery Training Squad, before serving aboard a Boeing B-29 Superfortress as an aerial gunner in 1945.

He performed this role as part of the 61st Bombardment Squadron, 39th Bombardment Group in Guam, and flew a total of 25 combat missions against Japan, many of which were highly hazardous.

On one particular mission, he suffered an injury to his arms, resulting in him being awarded the Purple Heart. The cramped gun turrets left him with claustrophobia that lasted his entire life.

Lee Marvin Was Shot at Saipan

Lee Marvin enlisted in the Marines at 18 and served as a scout sniper in the Pacific.

He served in the assaults on Eniwetok and Saipan-Tinian, and participated in 21 Japanese Island landings.

On June 18, 1944, during the assault on Mount Tapochau, most of his company became casualties. He was hit by machine gun fire, which severed his sciatic nerve, and then was hit in the foot by a sniper.

Marvin spent the next 13 months in naval hospitals. He came close to being paralyzed. He received a Purple Heart and was medically discharged.

The experience gave him nightmares for the rest of his life, but it also gave him the hard edge that made him a star.

He was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

Tony Bennett Liberated a Concentration Camp

Tony Bennett was 18 when he was drafted in 1944 and sent to Europe as a replacement infantryman.

Bennett’s group of replacements were taking over for casualties lost during the Battle of the Bulge. He described his time on the front lines as a “front-row seat in hell.”

As the German Army was pushed back to its homeland, Benedetto and his company saw bitter fighting in cold winter conditions, often hunkering down in foxholes as German 88 mm guns fired on them.

During his time in combat, Benedetto narrowly escaped death several times. His unit’s final mission was liberating a concentration camp near Landsberg.

In Tony’s case, they had to fight their way to the camp because soldiers were sticking to their guns. Bennett later became a lifelong pacifist and rarely spoke about what he witnessed.

Gene Roddenberry Earned a Distinguished Flying Cross

Before Gene Roddenberry created Star Trek, he was a B-17 pilot in the Pacific.

Roddenberry piloted a B-17 “Flying Fortress” named the “Yankee Doodle” and took part in the Battle of Guadalcanal.

During World War II, Roddenberry flew a total of 89 combat missions.

On August 2, 1943, while flying out of Espiritu Santo, Roddenberry was piloting a B-17 but realized the plane did not have enough speed to take off.

The brakes failed, and the plane overshot the runway by 500 feet and impacted trees, crushing the nose, and starting a fire.

Two crew members died. After 89 combat missions and at the rank of captain, Roddenberry was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal.

The crash haunted him, but it didn’t stop him from flying commercially after the war.

Jason Robards Survived Two Sinking Ships

Jason Robards enlisted in the Navy in 1940 and was assigned to the heavy cruiser USS Northampton.

Despite contrary reports, Robards’ ship was miles away from Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked on Dec.7.

He witnessed the aftermath of the attack when the Northampton returned to Pearl Harbor two days afterward.

On Nov.30, 1942, the Northampton was struck by two Japanese long-range torpedoes in the Battle of Tassafaronga.

The ship was destroyed, and Robards survived by treading water near the wreckage for hours until a U.S. destroyer rescued him.

Robards went on to serve on the USS Nashville. On December 13, she was struck by a kamikaze aircraft off Negros Island in the Philippines.

The attack killed 223 sailors, but Robards survived again. He went on to win two Academy Awards.

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Created a Secret Combat Unit

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. could have spent the war making movies. Instead, he helped create one of the Navy’s most secretive units.

Fairbanks was a decorated Naval officer during the Second World War, overseeing the Beach Jumpers special warfare unit.

These units specialized in deception, using fake radio signals and recorded sounds to trick the Germans into thinking amphibious landings were happening at the wrong beaches.

For his planning the diversion-deception operations and his part in the amphibious assault on Southern France, Lieutenant Commander Fairbanks was awarded the United States Navy’s Legion of Merit with bronze V (for valor).

Fairbanks was also awarded the Silver Star for valor displayed while serving on PT boats. The Beach Jumpers are now considered a precursor to the Navy SEALs.

Oliver Stone Volunteered for Vietnam Combat

Oliver Stone dropped out of Yale and enlisted in the Army in 1967. Stone joined the US Army in 1967 and specifically requested combat duty when he enlisted.

He was assigned to an infantry platoon near the Cambodian border.

While participating in combat duty, Stone was injured on two separate occasions and was transferred in 1968 to the 1st Cavalry, a specialized Long Range Reconnaissance Platoon.

After 15 months of service, Stone was discharged and awarded the Purple Heart with an Oak Leaf Cluster that denoted two awards.

Additionally, he was awarded a Bronze Star with a V device because of his extraordinary acts of valor under fire. He turned his experiences into the Academy Award-winning film “Platoon,” which he wrote and directed.

Rob Riggle Served 23 Years in Combat Zones

Most people know Rob Riggle from comedies like “The Hangover” and “Step Brothers. ” What they don’t know is that he spent over two decades in the Marine Corps.

Actor and comedian Rob Riggle, 52, served 23 years in the Marine Corps. He earned the Combat Action Ribbon in Kosovo after being shot at while out on patrol.

Riggle cleared rubble at Ground Zero on 9/11 before being deployed to Afghanistan in December 2001. He served in Liberia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan, and retired as a lieutenant colonel.

In 2018, Riggle played Bowers in the movie 12 Strong, about Green Berets who fought on horseback at the start of the war.

His commanding officer in Afghanistan was the real Max Bowers. Riggle is one of the few celebrity veterans who served in combat after becoming famous.

Clark Gable and Mel Brooks Cheated Death

Clark Gable was 41 and Hollywood’s biggest star when he enlisted after his wife, Carole Lombard, died in a plane crash while on a war bond tour.

He flew in several operational missions in the B-17G Flying Fortress bomber to film service members in aerial combat.

Gable had several close calls during these missions, including one particular moment in combat in which a 20mm shell crashed through the flight deck of the plane.

Luckily, the shell only took off part of his shoe and passed by without exploding. Hitler reportedly offered a reward for his capture.

Meanwhile, a young Mel Brooks enlisted at 17 and was assigned to a combat engineer unit.

The comedy legend served in World War II as a combat engineer, defusing land mines as a corporal in the 1104 Engineer Combat Division.

Both men survived experiences that killed thousands of others.

Combat Changed Them All Forever

These veterans didn’t come home the same.

Tony Bennett became a pacifist. Lee Marvin had nightmares until he died. Jimmy Stewart refused to discuss his missions in detail.

Audie Murphy struggled with what we now call PTSD and slept with a loaded gun under his pillow. Ted Williams rarely spoke about Korea.

That quote came from Tony Bennett, but it could have come from any of them. What sets these 13 apart isn’t just their fame.

It’s that they put their lives on the line when they didn’t have to, and they carried what they saw for the rest of their days.

Visiting The National WWII Museum, Louisiana

The National WWII Museum in New Orleans is the best place in America to understand what these veterans experienced.

The National WWII Museum is dedicated to preserving the history of the Second World War and offers a unique and personal experience into the lives that shaped the costly conflict.

The experience takes visitors through both theaters of WWII, along with an epic film narrated by Tom Hanks.

The museum covers everything from infantry combat to bombing raids to the Pacific island battles where Lee Marvin was wounded.

It’s located at 945 Magazine Street in New Orleans.

General admission is around $32 for adults. WWII veterans receive free access to a museum that is open 7 days a week.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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