Michael Caine

Michael Caine
Image Credit: Shutterstock

Perhaps so we can truly appreciate the lives we have, British Actor Michael Caine believes we should all serve at least six months in the military. Caine was drafted into the British Army during the Korean War. He spent time on the front lines and almost lost his life. After contracting Malaria, he was medically discharged and headed home to London to pursue acting. Turns out this offered him the experience he needed for his very first movie role. He got his big break playing a British Army Private in a war movie called, “A Hill in Korea.

Montel Williams

Montel Williams
Image Credit: Shutterstock

Actor and television talk show host, Montel Williams had an extremely impressive career in the US military. Montel served from 1974-1996. He was the first black enlisted Marine to graduate from both the Academy Prep School and the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. While at Annapolis he earned his degree in general engineering with a minor in International Security Affairs. He also studied Mandarin Chinese. He went on to be a lieutenant and was honorably discharged after 22 years of service from both the US Marine Corps and the US Navy


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Johnny Carson

Johnny Carson
Image Credit: WikiMedia Commons

The famous Tonight Show Host enlisted in the United States Navy as an apprentice seaman enrolled in the V-5 program. At the height of World War II, he felt he needed to serve his country and be a part of the American front. He was assigned as a member of the crew on the USS Pennsylvania. He had hoped to be trained as a Navy Pilot but was instead sent for midshipman training at Columbia University. Always an entertainer, he preformed magic for his classmates on the side.

Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway
Image Credit: WikiMedia Commons

Hemingway wanted to enlist in the Army during World War I, but his vision was too poor. The future Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winner was, however, accepted as a volunteer ambulance driver for the Red Cross and sailed for Europe in May 1918. Hemingway ended up in Italy, where he drove ambulances and gave out candy and cigarettes to Italian soldiers on the front lines. A few weeks after his arrival in Italy, a mortar shell exploded near the eighteen-year-old Hemingway, gravely wounding him. Many of his stories were based on his experiences in World War I, the Spanish Civil War, and World War II.

Gene Hackman

Gene Hackman
Image Credit: Shutterstock

Gene Hackman enlisted in the United States Marine Corps at the age of sixteen. He would later say while he was an actor, “I have trouble with direction, because I have trouble with authority. I was not a good Marine.” Hackman’s first duty assignment was in China, where he moonlighted as a disc jockey and newscaster on his unit’s radio station. A few times he left his post without permission—earning him three demotions. So, yes, Hackman was probably “not a good Marine.”

Mel Brooks

Mel Brooks
Image Credit: Shutterstock

Funny man Mel Brooks served our country during World War II. He was drafted before he had the chance to finish his degree. Known then as Melvin Kaminsky, he joined the Army Corps of Engineers. He was a Corporal in the 1104 Engineer Combat Battalion. As a combat engineer his job was a dangerous and important one; duties included deactivating enemy land mines. When Mel saw combat in the Battle of the Bulge, it is said that the Nazis were blasting Axis propaganda over the airways. True to form, legend has it that Mel responded by blasting his rendition of Al Jolson’s “Toot Toot Tootsie.”

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