Military Power

A fairly large number of Star Trek personalities have actually served in the United States armed forces. The largest number are Original Series actors, producers, and writers, with service in the Second World War. A fair number have service in the Korean War time frame and background actor Newell Tarrant is the only Star Trek actor known to have served in the Vietnam War. James Doohan and David Hurst are the only known Star Trek actors to have served in an armed force other than the United States military. Doohan served in the Canadian Army and Air Force and Hurst served in the British Army's Irish Fusiliers; both actors were veterans of the Second World War.

Individual Star Trek role Branch of service Years of service Final rank
Whit Bissell Lurry US Army 1943 - 1945 Sergeant
Elisha Cook Samuel Cogley US Army 1942 - 1943 Private First Class
Morgan Farley Hacom / Yang Scholar US Army 1942 - 1945 530425 Second Lieutenant
Paul Fix Mark Piper US Navy 1918 - 1919 Hospital Apprentice First Class
Frank Gorshin Bele US Army 1953 - 1955 Not recorded
James Gregory Tristan Adams US Navy 1942 - 1945 Petty Officer 1st Class
Richard Herd Owen Paris / L'Kor US Army 1953 Private
Jeffrey Hunter Christopher Pike US Navy 1945 - 1946 Seaman 1st Class
Roy Jenson Cloud William US Navy 1944 - 1946 Seaman 1st Class
Robert Justman Original Series Producer US Navy 1944 - 1946 Petty Officer 3rd Class
Brian Keith Mullibok US Marine Corps 1942 - 1945 Corporal
DeForest Kelley Leonard McCoy US Army Air Corps 1943 - 1946 Private First Class
Mark Lenard Sarek / Romulan commander / Klingon captain US Army 1943 - 1946 Technical Sergeant
Lawrence Montaigne Decius / Stonn US Marine Corps 1947 - 1950 Private First Class
Joseph Naradzay Marine sergeant US Marine Corps 1964 - 1990 Sergeant Major
Leonard Nimoy Spock US Army Reserve 1953 - 1955 Sergeant
Nehemiah Persoff Palor Toff US Army 1942 - 1946 Technician 5th Grade
Gene Roddenberry Series Creator US Army Air Corps 1942 - 1945 Captain
Warren Stevens Rojan Naval Academy / Army Air Corps 1937 - 1940 (Navy) Midshipman
Newell Tarrant Rogerson US Navy 1966 - 1986 Commander
Harry Townes Reger US Army 1942 - 1946 Corporal
William Windom Matthew Decker US Army 1943 - 1946 Technician 5th Grade
Ian Wolfe Septimus / Atoz US Army 1917 - 1919 Sergeant
Anthony Zerbe Matthew Dougherty Air Force Reserve / Air National Guard 1958 - 1964 Airman 3rd Class

The military records of Keith Andes, John Hoyt, Matt Jefferies, George Clayton Johnson, and Byron Morrow were completely destroyed in the 1973 National Archives Fire, making service verification impossible. Frank Gorshin's military rank was also damaged to the point that his final rank at discharge is unknown.

Go figure I'd start with Star Trek... I just wish I knew how to make that list look decent...

Tongue in Cheek response

The only entertainer I ever saw anywhere near the ‘muck and bullets’ was comedian Bob Carolgees (and that was 25 years ago).

Of course, it is not difficult to understand the reason. Why would any entertainer of note want to give up their high-appearances fees and their Champaign lifestyle.just to put on a CSE show in whichever Hotspot is currently in the headlines?

Let’s face it, these people aren’t stupid. They are not likely to give up their Chelsea Pads to go anywhere more dangerous than the Savoy Grill unless they are paid vast sums of money to do so. There aren’t many Five-Star Hotels or Luxury Limos about in most War-Zones.

Better still…Why don’t we make every newly elected politician go and do a week on the Front line (even if it only involves sitting in an APC typing orders or dishing out the rations). Wouldn’t a week eating Compo and dodging IEDs make a lot of them more appreciative of what they are asking others to do on their behalf?

(Sits back and waits for CrazyCatman to explode on outraged indignation)

Hobilar wrote:The only entertainer I ever saw anywhere near the ‘muck and bullets’ was comedian Bob Carolgees (and that was 25 years ago).

Of course, it is not difficult to understand the reason. Why would any entertainer of note want to give up their high-appearances fees and their Champaign lifestyle.just to put on a CSE show in whichever Hotspot is currently in the headlines?

Before they were famous, many celebrities served in the U.S. military (probably other countries as well).

James Doohan:
At the outbreak of the Second World War, Doohan, aged 19, joined the Royal Canadian Artillery, and was eventually commissioned as a lieutenant in the 13th Field Regiment, part of the divisional artillery of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division. Doohan went to the United Kingdom in 1940 for what became years of training. His first combat assignment was the invasion of Normandy at Juno Beach on D-Day. Shooting two snipers along the way, Doohan led his unit to higher ground through a field of anti-tank mines and took defensive positions for the night. Crossing between command posts at 11:30 that night, Doohan took six rounds from a Bren gun fired by a nervous sentry: four in his leg, one in the chest, and one through his right middle finger. The bullet to his chest was halted by the silver cigarette case he carried, and his wounded right middle finger was amputated, which he would conceal during his career as an actor. Despite his injuries, Doohan remained in the military, trained as a pilot and flew an artillery observation plane.


Bill Cosby:
Cosby enlisted in the Navy in 1956. He trained as a hospital corpsman and served aboard ships and at the Marine base at Quantico, Va., before being sent to Bethesda Naval Hospital. He was assigned to work with Korean War casualties.


Lynn "Buck" Compton:
Compton was a star athlete at UCLA, where he was a catcher on the university's baseball team alongside Jackie Robinson. He also played with the UCLA football team in the 1943 Rose Bowl Game on January 1, 1943. As such he had a very promising (and probably quite lucritive) carrer ahead of him in sports. Dispite that he joined the Army and was assigned to Company E of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment in the 101st Airborne Division prior to D-Day. During the company's action at Brécourt Manor, Compton and others assaulted a German battery of four 105mm howitzers firing on Utah Beach, disabling the guns and routing the enemy. Compton was awarded the Silver Star for his action in disabling the guns. Later, Compton was wounded while participating in Operation Market Garden. After a partial recovery, he returned to Easy Company in time for the month-long siege in the frozen Ardennes that would become known as the Battle of the Bulge where he witnessed two of his closest friends (SSgts Joe Toye and "Wild Bill" Guarnere) being badly maimed by artillery fire.

Hobilar wrote:(Sits back and waits for CrazyCatman to explode on outraged indignation)

Just for you Hobilar...

Hobilar wrote:There aren’t many Five-Star Hotels or Luxury Limos about in most War-Zones.

Could it be that they want to serve their country because they have pride in it?

CrazyCatman wrote: Could it be that they want to serve their country because they have pride in it?

That is probably the lamest excuse that I have ever heard for someone enlisting in the armed forces.

To learn a trade, for travel, for sport, for adventure, even for good pay-most certainly. But very few enlist because they want to go out and kill other people (and those who do usually don’t stay for long once they discover that most of their time is spent on daily routine tasks -admittedly with more training than one would receive from a civilian employer).

And what do you have at the end… a couple of medals, a photograph or two, and a tiny pittance of a pension (if you put in enough years). It won’t cut the mustard with any employer in the future (who will just look on you as just a mug who they can dump all the rubbish jobs on).

You can be proud of your country but, you can bet your last dollar that your country won’t be proud of you anytime after the shooting stops.