5 Stars of Yesteryear Who Fought Against the Nazis

1. Jimmy Stewart

One of the most beloved screen actors of all time, Stewart who starred in such memorable films as Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; The Philadelphia Story; It’s a Wonderful Life; Rear Window and Vertigo. He made his film debut in a Spencer Tracy picture that wasn’t very good but his secondfilm Rose Marie, 1936 was awesome and not just because I was named after it but that didn’t hurt. Jimmy was drafted in 1940 but he failed to make weight for his height. Instead of counting his blessings on being rejected, Jimmy got help from a Hollywood muscleman and trainer to gain the required weight, so he could serve his nation.Stewart eventually became a squadron commander in the 445th Bombardment Group in England. He flew 20 combat missions as a B-24 pilot and won a Distinguished Flying Cross and several other honors for leading bombing raids over Germany and France. Stewart ended the war as a colonel and was later promoted to the rank of brigadier general in 1959.

2. Tony Bennett

Tony Bennett may have left his heart in San Francisco, but he also left some of it in France and Germany during WW2. Tony was drafted in 1944 and served in the 63rd Infantry Div. He was on clean up duty after the Battle of the Bulge and went searching for Nazis in bombed out German towns. He also helped liberate a Nazi concentration camp in Landsberg. The war is what made Tony decide he wanted to go into showbiz because his first chance ever to perform was as part of a military marching band.

3. Sir Alec Guinness

Long before Obi Wan Kenobi was a general in the Republic Army of the Clone Wars and taught Luke Skywalker all about the ways of the force, Alec Guinness was piloting infantry landing craft in the Mediterranean for the Royal Navy. He was part of the invasion of Italy in 1943 and landed some 200 British soldiers on the beaches of Sicily.

4. Josephine Baker

Sexy and sultry Josephine was a star in Paris. Though she was born in the States she became a French citizen in 1937. She joined the French resistance during WW2 and used her fame as her cover to take secrets and military messages in and out of the country. She also helped by hiding refugees and spent time entertaining troops. She received the Croix de guerre (Cross of War) from France for her high-risk work with the Resistance

5. Mel Brooks

One of my all-time favorite comedy writers and actors, Mel Brooks who is responsible for The Producers, History of the World, Pt1, Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, Silent Movie, Spaceballs, Robin Hood Men in Tights and so much more also went to fight the Nazis. Mel who was then known as Melvin Kaminsky enlisted in the Army in 1944. He served in the 1104th Engineer Combat Battalion whose job it wasto clear roads of debris and land mines for the coming Allied Forces. He dodged snipersas well as other pitfalls to help our forces defeat Germany.