In God We Trust
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Born August 30, 1927 in Des Moines, Iowa, this comedian and dramatic actor is best known for his role as Capt. Roger Healey on the I Dream of Jeannie television sitcom. He was also associated with the Mike Douglas Show, Bob Newhart, and Steve Allen's Tonight show. Prior to his acting career, he was drafted into the Army during the Korean War, sent to Special Services School, shipped overseas, and had hopes of being an entertainer for the troops in Japan as a bass player. Instead he ended up in an artillery unit near the front lines. He was later transferred to an entertainment unit while the war was still going on.
Entertainer, vocalist, actor. Born June 12, 1928 in Brooklyn, New York, Vic Damone's birth name was Vito Rocco Farinola. Known for such romantic songs as "On the Street Where You Live," this American crooner was drafted into the military, serving in the Army in Germany during his 1951-53 military stint. He died February 11, 2018 in Miami Beach, Florida and is buried in Our Lady Queen of Peace Cemetery, Royal Palm Beach, Florida.
Born December 18, 1912 in Washington, DC, he died July 4, 2002 in Washington, DC. He was the fourth African-American to graduate from West Point. His father was the first African-American general in U.S. History. Benjamin Jr. was a Tuskegee airman. In 1953 he commanded the 51st Fighter Inceptor Wing at Suwon Air Base, South Korea. He became a brigadier general and then major general. In 1965 he was chief of staff of the UN Command and US Forces in Korea. He retired from the Air Force in 1970 and then briefly worked as director of public safety for Cleveland, Ohio. He also worked with the Department of Transportation to solve the problem of commercial hijacking.
Director of public safety for Cleveland, Ohio, and member of Department of Transportation. Born December 18, 1912 in Washington, DC, he died July 4, 2002 in Washington, DC. He was the fourth African-American to graduate from West Point. His father was the first African-American general in U.S. History. Benjamin Jr. was a Tuskegee airman. In 1953 he commanded the 51st Fighter Inceptor Wing at Suwon Air Base, South Korea. He became a brigadier general and then major general. In 1965 he was chief of staff of the UN Command and US Forces in Korea. He retired from the Air Force in 1970 and then briefly worked as director of public safety for Cleveland, Ohio. He also worked with the Department of Transportation to solve the problem of commercial hijacking.
Chairman of the board of Hershey Foods Corporation in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Dearden attended and graduated from Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania on an athletic scholarship. He did post-graduate work at Harvard University School of Business Administration. He served in the US Navy from 1942-1946 and was recalled to active duty in 1951. During his Korean War service he was Administrative Services Officer at the Mechanicsburg (Pennsylvania) Naval Depot. After his military service he joined the Hershey Corporation, serving as chairman of the board until he retired on March 01, 1985. He was a trustee and former board member of Albright College, the Hershey Trust Company, and Milton Hershey School. William Dearden died May 10, 2003 in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania.
Actor on Captain 11 children's television show on the South Dakota television station KELO. Born March 29, 1928 in Marshalltown, Iowa, he died January 25, 2010. He served in the United States Marine Corps in the late 1940s and was recalled to duty during the Korean War.
Boxer who held the heavyweight title from 1917-1926. Dempsey joined the New York State National Guard and then the Coast Guard Reserve. He was called to active duty in 1942 and was on an attack transport for the invasion of Okinawa. Because he did not receive his honorable discharge until 1952, he has Korean War veteran status.
Media critic, author, editor, reporter. Mr. Diamond's life revolved around the news media. His career included serving as contributing editor to PoliticsNow.com (ABC News), the Washington Post Company, Times Mirror Corporation, and New York Magazine. He was a reporter for NewsWeek in 1958. He was an on-air commentator for The Washington Post Company television stations in Washington 1970-77. He was founding senior editor of the Washington Journalism Review, and associate editor of the New York Daily News. He authored several books, including the Rise and Fall of the Space Age. During World War II he served with Roger's Raiders, 407th Infantry Regiment, 102 Division. During the Korean War he was a lieutenant in Army intelligence. His military decorations include a Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and Combat Infantryman's Badge. Edwin Diamond died July 10, 1997.
Longtime USO performer and founder of BRAVO, a nonprofit group serving veterans, Tony Diamond was born Frank Anthony Pacelli in Paterson, New Jersey. Diamond, a combat veteran, served in the Army during the Korean War (1951-1954), using his talents as a comedian to entertain soldiers. He served in the 29th Infantry Regiment. After the war, he adopted the stage name of Tony Diamond and performed on the comedy circuit and on Broadway. During the Vietnam War he volunteered as an entertainer for the USO to entertain GIs on the front lines, in hospitals, and aboard Navy ships in the South China Sea. In 1970, after four tours with the USO in Vietnam, he was booed offstage back at home when he referred in his routine to his USO work. He threw a picnic in a park for veterans, which led a year later to his co-founding BRAVO--Brotherhood Rally of All Veterans Organization--with the late actor Tom Tully. Based in Calabasas, where Diamond lived, BRAVO organized events to help veterans, including the National Veterans Unity Conference in Los Angeles attended by 300 representatives of grass-roots veterans groups in 1987, and a tour of a half-scale reproduction of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Tony Diamond served as Executive Director of BRAVO from 1971-1999. He died at his home on August 01, 1999 from cancer. He was survived by his wife Barbara.
This former Sacramento, California meter maid was a co-founder of one of the nation's first advocacy groups for female veterans. Founded under the name "WAVES National" (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) in 1978, the organization was created to bring women together from all sea services. The name later changed to "Military Women Across the Nation". Born in 1934, Jeannie graduated from Gustine High School in Merced County, California, and then joined the Navy in 1952. She took boot camp training in Bainbridge, Maryland and became a Navy cryptologist. After her marriage to Edgar Elledge in February 1953, she became pregnant with her first child and had to leave the military service that summer. At that time in history pregnant women could not remain in the military. Jeannie later married Joe Palermo and Ralph Dicks, both of whom died before her. At her death (age 82) on December 31, 2016 in San Diego, she was survived by her husband Ralph Dicks.
Actor and writer who was born April 14, 1930 in San Francisco, California. A Yale literature and drama graduate, he enlisted in the USNR in 1948, was selected for OCS at Parris Island. As a Marine 2nd Lieutenant he was assigned to teach communication skills to Marine veterans rather than being sent to Korea in 1951. He finished out the remainder of his time in the Corps (1951-53) at Camp DelMar, California. Dillman starred in television mini-movies and guest spots on popular television series.
President & CEO of Industrial Shows of America and producer of the International Auto Show & Chesapeake Bay Boat Show. Donahue was also a professional minor league baseball umpire when he was recalled to the Korean War in 1951. He was serving in Company F, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division when he was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action.
A distinguished trial lawyer who drew national attention as lead counsel to former Vice President Al Gore during the presidential election recount in 2000. Born December 06, 1929 in Florida, he served as general counsel to Gov. Lawton Chiles. He chaired the Florida Constitution Revision Commission 1997-1998. He was named to serve on the board of the Florida School for Deaf and Blind by four governors. He also served various times as special counsel to the Florida Senate and House of Representatives. A Korean War combat veteran, he died September 17, 2013 in Tallahassee, Florida.
Retired director at Kalamazoo Valley Community College, Michigan. Dowdy served as a Buffalo Soldier (24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division) in the Korean War. He enlisted in the Army in 1948, sent to Korea on July 2, 1950 as a cook, but placed in a combat unit. On July 26 he was hit in the face with shrapnel and was evacuated because he was permanently injured. In spite of his severe injury he was a successful educator who also became an ordained minister in 2009.
Major league outfielder. Born October 23, 1930 in Little Rock, Arkansas, Solly began his baseball career in 1948 playing for the Elmwood Giants in the Mandrake League. He signed with the Chicago Cubs in 1951, served two years in the military 1952-53, and then debuted in the major league with the Chicago Cubs in 1956. He and his brother Sammy were the first African-American brothers to play in the majors. He retired from baseball in 1960.
Film and television actor. Born Ernest Joseph Caringi in Mechanicville, New York on December 23, 1931, Drexel had appearances in the films Man of a Thousand Faces, The Tarnish Angels, Badman's Country, Hot Rod Gang and more. He also made appearances on television series, Highway Patrol, Colt .45, Miami Undercover, Six Million Dollar Man, etc. He died April 17, 2010. He served in the US Army during the Korean War.
Born July 20, 1934 in Sweet Home, Arkansas, Dumas joined the Air Force and served his country from 1953-1957 at Lackland Air Base and on the Arabian Peninsula. Writing for Air Force publications, he received accolades for his writing skills. After his military service he wrote about his childhood experiences as a black youth growing up in Southern Arkansas. Active in the 1950s civil rights movement in Mississippi and Tennessee, he frequently wrote about the struggles facing black Americans during the 1950s/60s. He was killed by a police officer in a case of mistaken identity on May 23, 1968 in Manhattan.
Dedicated, ground-breaking physician in Houma, Louisiana. Born in 1921 in Houma, Dr. DuPont was instrumental in the founding of the Heart Station, Intensive Care, and Respiratory units at the Terrebonne General Hospital in Louisiana. During the Korean War he served as senior medial officer onboard the Admiral's flagship, The Albany, in the Atlantic fleet. He died January 12, 2007 in Houma.
Actor, singer. He was a mainstay in the 1950s and the early 1960s on television making many notable guest appearances, among them "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon," "State Trooper," "Maverick," "Perry Mason," "Zane Grey Theatre," "The Twilight Zone," "Alfred Hitchcock," "The Wide Country" and "The Virginian." These guest spots led to the 1959-60 half-hour TV series "Johnny Ringo" where Don played a gunslinger-turned sheriff. He brandished a LeMat handgun that featured an extra barrel that fired a shotgun round. For good measure, the talented vocalist wrote and then sang the theme song. The show was a bonanza for the toy industry. It generated board games, character puppets, gun sets and canteens. He was born Donald Allison Durae in Long Beach, California. His father was killed in a traffic accident prior to his birth. Don also, at age eleven, narrowly followed in his dad's fate when he was struck by a cement trunk leaving him in a coma with many fractures relegating him to bed for over a year. His mother remarried, this time to a Nevada cattle rancher. Don spent a lot of his teen years on the ranch learning the ways of a cowboy, riding, roping and singing. The couple divorced and he was back in Long Beach. In junior high, he was a dee-jay on KPRO radio in nearby Riverside where he often sang. Still bothered from injuries due to his bike accident, he managed to play football by wearing special plates. He was drafted during the Korean War but a hip injury found him confined to Letterman Army Hospital in San Francisco. He completed his military obligation with an assignment to Special Services furthering his singing experience by entertaining the veterans at Letterman. His post-military days found him pursuing a singing and acting career while touring with a theater group. Don appeared at the Sands and The Sahara in Las Vegas. He made his first serious attempt at acting with an uncredited appearance in the 1955 film "Battle Cry." He remained active on the Hollywood scene by teaching actors how to ride horses and shoot guns and worked as a technician helping to construct the first kinescopic recorder and sound recorder. Durant had a starring role in the 'B' film "She Gods of Shark Reef" in 1956. He toured as a vocalist with the Tommy Dorsey, Frankie Carle and Ray Anthony orchestras and even recorded an album with Anthony. More and more guest-starring roles came his way, mainly western themes. However, by 1964, the days of the cowboy was over as well as the era of the big bands. His roles diminished and eventually faded altogether. He retired from show business completely while settling in Orange County operating a real estate office. He made public appearances and attended shows and conventions where he would strap on his famous LeMat pistol and sign autographs almost to the end of his days. He was diagnosed with lymphocytic leukemia in 1992 which led to his death at age 72 in the family home located at Dana Point, California. [Source: Findagrave]
Actor/director. Born January 05, 1931 in San Diego, California, actor/director Robert Duvall is known for starring roles in The Twilight Zone, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Godfather, True Grit, Lonesome Dove, and more. From August 19, 1953 to August 20, 1954, he served in the U.S. Army stateside. While stationed at Camp Gordon, he acted in an amateur production of the comedy, "Room Service." He was discharged from the Army with the rank of Pfc. Later he starred as Maj. Frank Burns in the satirical movie, M*A*S*H. He never saw combat.