Stars in the Corps: Movie Actors in the United States Marines

Annapolis, Maryland, U.S.A.: Naval Institute Press, 1999. Hard Back. Near Fine/As New. 6 1/4" x 9 1/4. 246 Pages Indexed. Black boards with silver and red spine decorations. Beautiful condition with bright interior text pages and dust jacket. A high quality Naval Institute Press binding. In this book are more than thirty celebrity profiles of motion picture stars who served in the US Marine Corps from World War I through Vietnam. Here are the contributions of such actors as Steve McQueen, Gene Hackman, Harvey Keitel, Brian Dennehy, Hugh O'Brian, and Ed McMahon, and the heroic actions of Marines like Sterling Hayden, Brian Keith, Dale Dye, and Lee Marvin. Marvin played the most important role of his life in World War II. One of many surprises in this book is a description of his heroism as a member of the 4th Marine Division during the invasion of Saipan. Another is the fact that Marvin chose to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery with a simple marker identifying him only as a Marine, not a movie star. Sterling Hayden, a well-known movie star before World War II, changed his name upon commissioning to conceal his movie identity. An experienced seaman and parachutist and a graduate of a British commando training school, he joined the OSS and aided Marshal Tito's partisans in their guerrilla warfare against the Germans, winning a Silver Star for rescuing pilots behind enemy lines. Dashing leading man Tyrone Power joined the enlisted ranks of the Corps and went on to receive his commission and aviator wings, logging hundreds of hours as a command transport pilot in Pacific combat zones. Accompanied by photographs on almost every page, these revealing profiles are based on interviews with the stars or families, battle reports, unit diaries, and personnel records to authenticate details.