Warbird Information Exchange

I allways liked Karl Malden's acting and was sad to hear of his death at the grand age of 97.
What I did not know is that he served in WW2 as an NCO in the 8th Air Force, does anyone have more details ?

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495th F.T.G your not forgotten

It is hard to see Karl Malden as a mere corporal, I keep seeing an image of him with 2 stars on his collar (movie Patton!). He joined the AAC at the age of 30 and was in "Special Services" whatever that is!?!?
Came across several sites that list actors who served, lots of interesting names there. Not a lot of detail, mostly a list and what service.
http://www.valdezlink.com/pages/actors-moreA-L.htm

" Special Services " in this case was the Army's large entertainment section. Lot's of actors, directors, band leaders, etc, enlisted, and Uncle Sam put them to work where they had previous experience, as in the case of director Frank Capra, US Army Special Forces, who directed the " Why We Fight " series for the Army. Lots of directors and actors were involved in making many, many training films.
Other notables in " Special Services " were Clark Gable, who flew combat missions from England while taking motion pictures, band leader Glenn Miller, who provided music for the troops in concerts, and Ronald Reagan, who was assigned to making training films.

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SHAEF1944
American Veterans Museum

I can't believe that the list link that Holedigger posted left off Jimmy Stewart!!! I'm sure that there are many others too, like James Cagney and didn't Humphrey Bogart serve too? A totally different breed of actors back then vs now. Back then they put thier acting/entertainment careers on hold to serve thier country, now many of them use their acting careers to....well lets just say that that back then people were a little more patriotic.

God bless Cpl. Karl Malden and all who served our country. Happy 4th of July!

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Bill Gorin
Vintage Flying Museum
http://www.vintageflyingmuseum.org
https://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=57513906106

stewart was a combat pilot 1st, i can understand why his name wasn't included, he wasn't their to entertain.

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

Bogart didn't serve in WWII, other than to make tours with his then wife Mayo Methot. Bogie always lamented that he was born in a generation that never got to fight for their country: too young for WWI and too old for WWII. He was born in 1899, which made him 17 when WWI ended and 42 when WWII started for the US.

In fact, Bogie did serve his country in the dying months of WWI, as Midshipman Bogart on the troopship USS Leviathan. He was bound for Europe but the war ended soon after.

Walrus

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One crowded hour of glorious life
Is worth an age without a name