Famous Veteran: Ed McMahon

military.com ^ | 2018 | Military.com

[eastforker]

"Honesty is the single most important factor having a direct bearing on the final success of an individual, corporation, or product."

Ed McMahon was born in Detroit, Michigan, but he was raised in Lowell, Massachusetts. As he grew up, his booming, resonant voice became the centerpiece of his career as an entertainer and would serve him as a Marine. When he graduated high school, his dream was to become a pilot for the Marine Corps. In the early 1940's, would-be pilots were required to have at least two years of college under their belts, so McMahon enrolled with Boston College.

Soon after the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor, the college requirement for pilots was dropped. McMahon immediately enlisted and entered flight training in Dallas, Texas. Afterwards he completed fighter training in Pensacola and obtained his carrier landing qualification. While he was still in flight school, McMahon became an instructor, a role in which his ability to project came in handy. His flight instructor status lasted for two years until he was given orders to report to the Pacific Fleet. However, before he entered combat, atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki which ended the war, and facilitated the cancelation of his orders.

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

I never new this about Ed. It reminds me of an episode with George Gobel who was a flight instructor also

https://youtu.be/efHVcgUajtA

[Hostage]

A great patriot AND a Hollywood entertainer. Seems impossible but it was true more often than not of his generation.

Patriots need to take back the entertainment field because of its heavy influence on youth.

Guess who is a rising star along these lines?

Chris Pratt

The kids love this guy; can't get enough of him.

Watch:
Chris Pratt gives powerful speech about God's love at MTV Movie & TV Awards

[BBell]

Here is another outstanding soldier Marine from the best generation ever.

There, fixed it.

[Cementjungle]

Having known people involved in his first life (pre-fame), my view of him was always very negative. That hasn’t changed.

[Gene Eric]

Down to Earth, God loving American. And the crowd loved him.

But this is nothing new with Pratt.

[elcid1970]

IIRC, Ed McMahon rose to the rank of Colonel, USMCR during the Tonight show years. A great American.

[Leaning Right]

I wish I could find a clip of this, but anyway...at the beginning of one show Johnny and Ed were talking about their military service.

Then Johnny said something like this: Most people don’t know it, but Ed was a Marine pilot. And he single-handedly attacked and sank a Japanese destroyer. But Ed did not get a medal because the war had been over for five years.

[ETL]

Lol!

On a more serious note, did you catch my post on Carson and Jane Fonda. I didn’t see the original episode when it came out, but rather saw it in a recent reairng.

[ETL]

Art Carney would be a good subject too. And Eddie Albert.

[Leaning Right]

> did you catch my post on Carson and Jane Fonda <

I did, and I was surprised and disappointed by Carson’s comments there (Carson himself was a WW II vet).

I can only guess that Carson was disgusted by the loss of blood and treasure in Vietnam, and had quietly turned into a peacenik of sorts.

[real saxophonist]

NOT a ‘soldier’. Marine.

[ETL]

I can only guess that Carson was disgusted by the loss of blood and treasure in Vietnam, and had quietly turned into a peacenik of sorts.

Only if he had no clue whatsoever what Jane Fonda had done. Because she was no "peacenik". She was a pro-North Vietnam/Vietcong communist. She wanted them to win, as did the organizers of the so-called "peace" movement. Same thing for today's "anti-war" movement organizers. They are not genuine pacifists. They worship communist mass murderers like Mao the Tung and others.

[ETL]

Correction: Mao tse Tung

Sorry, stupid auto spell ‘correct’. It assumes to meant something other than what you typed and selects it automatically without asking for confirmation.

[Leaning Right]

> She [Jane Fonda] was a pro-North Vietnam/Vietcong communist. <

Yep. A true pacifist would never be photographed operating an anti-aircraft gun, no matter whose gun it was. Fonda was - and is - a traitor.

And that’s what makes Carson’s positive comments about her so puzzling.

[ETL]

I can only guess that Carson was disgusted by the loss of blood and treasure in Vietnam, and had quietly turned into a peacenik of sorts.

Here again is the excerpt...

“The Fonda episode was especially fascinating for what Carson did. Fonda was there to promote her movie Julia, but Carson’s intro was about something else: “Here’s a gal I admire highly,” he said “as a person who has taken a stand on issues that at times were unpopular… called a radical. It’s a funny thing, how people who were called radical at the time are now considered people who were right on.”

November 22, 1970 -- During a fund-raising tour for GI deserters, Vietnam Veterans Against the War and the Black Panthers, Jane Fonda is quoted in the Detroit Free Press as telling a University of Michigan audience:

"I would think that if you understood what communism was, you would hope, you would pray on your knees that we would someday become communist," and "The peace proposal of the Viet Cong is the only honorable, just, possible way to achieve peace in Vietnam."

http://www.wintersoldier.com/index.php?topic=Timeline

[cymbeline]

Johnny also told this story about Ed:

Ed was coming home from a party and a little tipsy. He took an exit from the freeway and ran into a telephone pole. He escaped serious injury because he was walking rather than driving.

[deadrock]

Beer Bottle Bill died yesterday. I thought you might like his story.

There is a link further along that I added that explains all.