Hollywood at War: Stars Who Served (Part IV)

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On December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy led a surprise military strike against the American naval base stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The following day, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared war against Japan, which fully plunged the United States into World War II.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, thousands of American men enlisted in the various branches of the armed forces to help their country in the fight against the Axis Powers. Some of these men were established Hollywood actors, while others became recognizable movie stars in the post-war period. Here are five (more) male actors who served in World War II before or after they became famous.

Walter Matthau (1920-2000) | United States Army Air Forces, 1942-1945

Matthau enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces in 1942 and was assigned as a radio operator and gunner with the Eighth Air Force. In 1943, he was shipped out to England and was stationed at RAF Old Buckenham in Norfolk, where he served with the 453rd Bombardment Group, the same unit as James Stewart. He participated in bombing runs over Germany aboard a Consolidated B-24 Liberator, but he did not see combat. When Paris was liberated in August 1944, he apparently pulled some strings to be sent to France to help the Free French Underground chase down Nazi collaborators. He remained in France until VE Day, after which he returned to America for demobilization. He was discharged in 1945 with the rank of staff sergeant.
 
LEFT: Walter Matthau in uniform while in England. MIDDLE: Aerial view of RAF Old Buckenham during World War II. RIGHT: A crowd of Parisians and Allied soldiers walking down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris on VE Day, on May 8, 1945.

Jackie Cooper (1922-2011) | United States Navy, 1943-1946

Cooper joined the U.S. Navy in 1943 and was assigned as a drummer to Claude Thornhill's band, which performed at remote bases in the South Pacific theatre of war. Although he was usually away from combat, he saw action at Ulithi Atoll, in the Caroline Islands. The United States had established a large naval base at Ulithi to support the island-hopping war efforts of the Allies against the Empire of Japan. On March 11, 1945, as part of Operation Tan No. 2, several long range aircraft flying from southern Japan attempted a nighttime attack on Ulithi. One kamikaze struck the aircraft carrier USS Randolph, damaging the flight deck and killing a number of crewmen. Cooper remembered, 
«The day after, we went abroad what was left of the hangar deck of the Randolph and there were ankle-deep puddles of blood.»
He heard the news of the unconditional Japanese surrender while he was in New Caledonia, after which he went on a goodwill tour of New Zealand. He was discharged as a musician 3rd class in 1946.
 
LEFT: Jackie Cooper playing the drums in Claude Thornhill's band; MIDDLE: USS Randolph alongside the repair ship USS Jason following the kamikaze hit at Ulithi Atoll, on March 11, 1945. RIGHT: Jackie Cooper with his discharge papers in 1946.

Cesar Romero (1907-1994) | United States Coast Guard, 1942-1945

Romero enlisted in the United States Coast Guard in October 1942 as an apprentice seaman. After 10 weeks of basic training in Alameda, California, he reported to the transport ship USS Cavalier, which operated in the Pacific theatre of war. He was in charge of operating deck cranes to bring landing craft, vehicles and troops on broad. During the invasions of Saipan and Tinian, in June and July 1944, Romero and the crew of the Cavalier were summoned to deliver reinforcements and ammunition, and load casualties, before returning to Pearl Harbor for brief repairs. Romero saw action again in early January 1945, when the Cavalier took part in the invasion of Lingayen Gulf during the Philippines campaign.

On January 30, while off Manila Bay, the Cavalier was suddenly hit by a torpedo presumably fired from the Japanese submarine Ro-115, which injured 50 crewmen and caused the engines to stop. The ship was then towed by the minesweeper USS Rail to Leyte and later to Pearl Harbor for extensive repair. During that time, Romero participated on a series of morale events and war bond rallies, often speaking at war production plants. He was discharged from service when the war ended, in September 1945, with the rank of chief petty officer.
 
LEFT: Cesar Romero aboard the USS Cavalier. MIDDLE: General Douglas MacArthur (right) and his troops landing at 'Blue Beach', Dagupan, during the invasion of Lingayen Gulf. RIGHT: Cesar Romero in his Coast Guard uniform.

Wayne Morris (1914-1959) | United States Navy, 1941-1946

Morris joined the U.S. Naval Reserve in June 1941. After training as a military pilot, he spent a year as a flight instructor at Naval Reserve Aviation Base Hutchinson, Kansas. In mid-1943, he attended fighter training at Naval Air Station Melbourne, Florida, but was considered physically «too big» to fly fighter planes. Morris then went to his uncle-in-law, Commander David McCampbell, who was in charge of training landing signal officers at Melbourne, and ask him to intercede for him. McCampbell wrote Morris a letter, allowing him to fly the Grumman F6F Hellcat. Morris later joined McCampbell's Fighter Squadron 15 (VF-15) abroad the aircraft carrier USS Essex, which served in the Pacific Theatre of war.
 
Between September 1943 and December 1944, Morris flew 57 missions and shot down seven Japanese «Zero» fighters, qualifying as a flying ace. During that time, was also credited with the sinking of an escort vessel and a flak gunboat, in addition to helping sink a submarine and damage a heavy cruiser and a mine layer. He was then sent back home to serve as a flight officer and experimental project officer at Naval Air Station Armitage Field, California, until he was discharged in 1946 with the rank of lieutenant commander. For his service during the war, Morris was awarded four Distinguished Flying Crosses and two Air Medals. 
 
LEFT: Wayne Morris (right) and another VF-15 pilot after an attack on Formosa (Taiwan) in October 1944. MIDDLE: The flight deck of the USS Essex in February 1944. RIGHT: Wayne Morris in the cockpit of his Hellcat (the seven Rising Sun Flags represent the number of Japanese planes he shot down).

Lee Van Cleef (1925-1989) | United States Navy, 1942-1946

Van Cleef enlisted in the U.S. Navy in September 1942, when he was just 17 years old. After receiving basic training at Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island, he attended Sonarman School, graduating as a sonarman third class. In March 1943, he was assigned to the submarine chaser USS SC-681, which patrolled the Caribbean Sea in search of German U-boats. In January 1944, Van Cleef was sent to the Fleet Sound School in Key West, Florida, for further training, and later reported for duty aboard the minesweeper USS Incredible. The vessel had her shakedown cruise along the East Coast and in the Caribbean, before being sent to Europe to participate in Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of southern France. Stationed in the Mediterranean Sea, the Incredible crew was tasked with looking for enemy mines along the French coast. In September 1944, she helped neutralize an attack on Allied warships by German manned torpedoes. 

In January 1945, Van Cleef and the Incredible crew sailed to the Black Sea to perform minesweeping duties out of the Soviet naval base at Sevastopol, Crimea. Six months later, the ship was transferred to the Pacific Theatre and took part in Operation Skagway, clearing the minefields in the East China Sea and around the Ryukyus Islands following the Japanese surrender. Upon the completion of that mission, Van Cleef returned to the United States and was honourably discharged in February 1946 with the rank of sonarman first class.
 
LEFT: Lee Van Cleef in his United States Navy uniform. MIDDLE: The invasion fleet of Operation Dragoon, off the French Mediterranean coast, in August 1944. RIGHT: The USS Incredible in 1951.

Stay tuned for more «Hollywood at War» articles. For now, you can also read Stars Who Served (Part I), Stars Who Served (Part II), Stars Who Served (Part III), The Female Front and The Hollywood Canteen.


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SOURCES:
«Bert DeWayne Morris, Jr.» Veteran Tributes, http://veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.php?recordID=1548.
Chidlow, Nora L. «The Long Blue Line: Cesar Romero - A Hollywood Star, But Just Another Guy in the Coast Guard.» United States Coast Guard, 24 Sep. 2021, https://www.mycg.uscg.mil/News/Article/2780040/the-long-blue-line-cesar-romeroa-hollywood-star-but-just-another-guy-in-the-coa/. 
Edelman, Rob, and Audrey Kupferberg. Matthau: A Life. Taylor Trade Publishing, 2002. 
«Hollywood Veterans in Arlington National Cemetery: Jackie Cooper.» Comet Over Hollywood, 18 Mar. 2015, https://cometoverhollywood.com/2015/03/18/hollywood-veterans-in-arlington-national-cemetery-jackie-cooper/.
Martin, Kali. «Stars in Service: Famous Entertainers in the US Navy and Coast Guard.» The National WWII Museum, 24 Mar. 2020, https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/stars-service-famous-entertainers-us-navy-and-coast-guard. 
Neikirk, Todd. «Lee Van Cleef Received the Bronze Star for His Service in the US Navy During World War II.» War History Online, 30 Jun. 2022, https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/lee-van-cleef.html.

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