American Celebrities in the Armed Forces - 2 Quiz

Answer: Harry S. Truman

Steve McQueen joined the Marines in 1947. He was demoted seven times early in his career as a soldier for various acts of rebellion. At one point, he went AWOL and spent 41 days in the brig as punishment. After being caught, he apparently tried to embrace more discipline and become a better Marine.

As a result, he went into action while on a mission to the Arctic. When a tank began to fall through the ice, he saved the lives of five other Marines by pulling them out. He was rewarded with a time as a member of the honour guard that was responsible for staying with the yacht belonging to Harry Truman.

Answer: Pilot

Palance was a boxer and a football player before joining the United States Army Air Forces in 1942. He trained as a pilot. During one training flight in Arizona, he was forced to bail out of a burning B-24 Liberator bomber. He had facial injuries that were repaired by plastic surgeons, but that likely contributed to his rugged looks that followed him to the screen years later.

He continued to serve as a pilot, and later went on to Stanford on the GI Bill after being honourably discharged from the military in 1944.

Answer: France

Keaton was drafted to the United States Army's 40th Infantry Division in 1917 where he served in the American Expeditionary Forces in France. Despite being in the country, Keaton and the other soldiers in his unit did not see any action. Instead, they were held in reserve. During his time there, he suffered from an ear infection so bad that it caused a permanent hearing loss.

In fact, that may have been the reason for the most dangerous part of his time in France. One night, he was walking through the grounds of the encampment when a sentry asked him for a password. Keaton didn't hear the request, so he kept walking.

He was asked again, but did not hear it the second time. He must have had a strong intuition because he stopped and was not shot by the guard.

Answer: Dancer

Freeman served in the US Air Force in the late 50s. He rose to the rank of Airman 1st Class while he performed duties as an Automatic Tracking Radar Repairman. When he left the forces, he started taking acting lessons. One of his teachers encouraged him to develop his dancing skills.

He went on to perform as a dancer at the 1964 New York World's Fair. While dancing, he continued to develop his acting ability. He finally decided that he most enjoyed acting, so took that route for his career.

Answer: He missed his mother.

Keitel has played a number of tough-guy roles on both television and in movies. At the age of 15, he joined the Marines. He was sent to Lebanon during Operation Blue Bat in 1958. Operation Blue Bat was an anti-communist force that was set up by President Eisenhower to secure areas of Lebanon that were being threatened by communist forces. Keitel served there for three years, during which time he earned a medal as a fire team leader.

In the "Esquire" interview, he said that he left the Marines because he was homesick, and basically just missed his mom.

Answer: He beat and stabbed a fellow soldier.

Richard Pryor served in the US Army from 1958-1960. During that time he was stationed in what was then West Germany. He ended up in prison shortly after arriving there because of a series of violent attacks on fellow soldiers, stemming from what he considered racial abuse.

In one attack, he apparently became angry with a white soldier who was amused at some racial scenes in a movie. He and some fellow African-American soldiers beat and stabbed the white soldier. Although the victim did not die, Pryor was sent to military prison for much of the rest of his deployment to Germany.

Answer: 3

George Carlin's reputation as a non-conformist started quite early. He joined the Air Force when he was 17 years old. While there, he trained as a radar technician. During his time in the forces, he couldn't seem to adapt to the military lifestyle of discipline and following commands.

He received many non-judicial reprimands from his senior officers plus three court-martials during his time as a soldier. He received a general discharge in 1957 after receiving the label of an "unproductive airman".

Answer: Navy

Humphrey Bogart enlisted in the US Navy in the spring of 1918 in the final months of WWI. He spent time after the war on the Navy ships ferrying troops back to the US from Europe. In 1919, he missed his ship when it sailed for Europe without him. He reported it immediately, so he was not listed as a deserter. Rather, he was listed as AWOL.

His punishment was three days of solitary confinement in a military prison along with a bread and water diet. He ultimately attained the rank of seaman second class before he was honorably discharged on June 18th, 1919.

Answer: Gene Wilder

Wilder was drafted into the US Army in 1956. Once he completed his basic training, he received more training so that he could act as a medic in the forces. When he finished his training, he transferred to an army hospital in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania where he worked in the Department of Psychiatry and Neurology.

He chose this post because it was close to New York City which gave him an opportunity to take acting classes and go after the acting career that he wanted.

Answer: The Battle of the Bulge

Brooks, whose name was Kaminsky at the time, was involved in the Battle of the Bulge, although he stated that he was not located near the most intense fighting. He was a member of the 1104th Engineer Combat Group. As such, he and his fellow soldiers were mainly responsible for building bridges, clearing roads, and de-activating land mines.

The other battles listed in this question all took place in 1940-41, long before Mel Brooks joined the Army.