Thread: James Doohan

Dont know if this is the right place to post this. :

James Doohan, played chief engineer on the Starship Enterprise in the original "Star Trek" TV series and movies who responded to the command "Beam me up, Scotty," James Doohan Died July 19th 2005

At 19, James escaped the turmoil at home by joining the Canadian army, becoming a lieutenant in artillery. He was among the Canadian forces that landed on Juno Beach on D-Day. "The sea was rough," he recalled. "We were more afraid of drowning than the Germans."

The Canadians crossed a minefield laid for tanks; the soldiers weren't heavy enough to detonate the bombs. At 11:30 that night, he was machine-gunned, taking six hits: one that took off his middle right finger (he managed to hide the missing finger on screen), four in his leg and one in the chest. Fortunately the chest bullet was stopped by his silver cigarette case.

I like these stories about celebrities and the action they saw in different wars. There are fine stories to tell about Jimmy Stewart, Roald Dahl, Lee Marvin, George Bush, Lord Carrington, Richard Todd and countless others. What's more, there is no other website that has collected these stories together. I think it wouldn't be such a bad idea to start collecting them here.

It is problematic in that the contributions of these celebrities are no more remarkable than those of Joe Bloggs who came back from the war and worked driving a truck or delivering mail, rather than taking Hollywood by storm or becoming a successful politician....
But the fact remains that people like to read about celebrities.
Whaddya reckon Jim ?

That's a good idea dave. We have one for 'War Heroes'. I think 'War Celebrities' would be an excellent addition.:yeah:

Thanks Kelly, just to add that these stories are pretty hard to find. I'm sure that what is available on the web is only the tip of the iceberg...

Ok i am in total agreement on this, good start Smythy, and good suggestion Dave, Kelly and i in agreement now thats 100% i think.

"He's dead, Jim." -- McCoy, nearly every episode.

Originally Posted by Dave

Thanks Kelly, just to add that these stories are pretty hard to find. I'm sure that what is available on the web is only the tip of the iceberg...

I'll try to find some. I suppose there's the obvious start, Audie Murphy (Although not everybody knows the story)

Originally Posted by Jim

Ok i am in total agreement on this, good start Smythy, and good suggestion Dave, Kelly and i in agreement now thats 100% i think.
"He's dead, Jim." -- McCoy, nearly every episode.

Well played Jim, and didn't McCoy also say on a weekly basis "My God, Jim, I'm a Doctor not a ......"

I can never remember the Murphy stories, wasn't he a soldier first and a celebrity later for being a soldier....??? Still, he'll do, get him up there !

Kirk : "Analysis Bones."
McCoy: "GOOD LORD JIM !...... "