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Many well-known actors have served honorably in uniform, but far fewer have seen combat. Here are 10 actors who saw real action.
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Jimmy Stewart: Plane hit during bombing mission in World War II
Jimmy Stewart in 'It's a Wonderful Life.'
CBS via Getty Images
Already an Academy Award winner for The Philadelphia Story and an amateur pilot by the time the U.S. entered World War II, Jimmy Stewart enlisted in the Army Air Corps. Based in England, he commanded groups of up to 150 aircraft on a total of 20 bombing missions.
During one raid, flak burst through Stewart’s plane, Dixie Flyer, taking out two engines and leaving a gaping hole at his feet. On landing, the aircraft broke apart “with a crack ripping from the bulkhead to the cockpit.”
The star of It’s a Wonderful Life was promoted to brigadier general in the U.S. Air Force Reserve in 1959 and retired in 1968. He died at 89 in 1997.
Charles Bronson: Flew combat missions during World War II
Charles Branson in 'Death Wish.'
Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
Drafted into the Army in 1943, Charles Bronson became a B-29 aerial gunner in B-29 bombers after a spell of punishment for punching a sergeant. He flew 25 combat missions in the Pacific and was awarded the Purple Heart for taking a bullet to his shoulder. His time in cramped gun turrets, combined with working as a miner as a boy, led to bouts of claustrophobia for the rest of his life.
Bronson used the GI Bill to study acting. Among his most famous movie roles was as a prisoner of war in 1963’s The Great Escape. He died at 81 in 2003.
Michael Caine: Surrounded by Chinese soldiers in Korea
Michael Caine, (third from left), in 'A Bridge Too Far.'
Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images
Called up for national service in the British Army, Michael Caine saw combat in the Korean War. At one point, he and two comrades found themselves surrounded by Chinese soldiers. “I was conscious of a growing fury — I was going to die before I’d even had a chance to live, before I’d had a chance to do all the things I wanted to do,” he later recalled. The three soldiers decided to charge the enemy and lived to tell the tale.
A star of A Bridge Too Far (1977), Sir Michael Caine is still acting at 89.
Rob Riggle: Marine in Afghanistan after 9/11
Rob Riggle in '12 Strong.'
Warner Bros Pictures/Everett Collection
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, where his commanding officer was Lt. Col. Max Bowers. In 2018, Riggle played Bowers in the movie 12 Strong, about Green Berets who fought on horseback at the start of the war.
James Doohan: Wounded on D-Day
James Doohan as Lt. Commander Montgomery Scotty Scott with a communicator on 'Star Trek.'
CBS via Getty Images
Best known for playing Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, chief engineer of the Starship Enterprise, in Star Trek, James Doohan was a Canadian artillery officer who stormed Juno Beach on D-Day, shooting dead two German snipers.
That night, he was hit six times by machine gun fire. One bullet took off his right middle finger. Doohan had been a victim of friendly fire from a Bren gun wielded by a nervous Canadian sentry. Doohan died in 2005 at age 85.
J.W. Cortés: Platoon sergeant in Iraq invasion
JW Cortes (left) and Todd Palin in 'Stars Earn Stripes.'
Tyler Golden/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images
J.W. Cortés, 47, was a Marine platoon sergeant during the invasion of Iraq. “Everything resonated with me: the hard work, esprit de corps, teamwork, tradition,” he later reflected.
Cortés retired as a gunnery sergeant and became a New York City police officer before landing the role of Detective Carlos Alvarez on the TV show Gotham.
