Capt Kangaroo was not a war hero!

Keeshan was born in Lynbrook, New York.[3] After an early graduation from Forest Hills High School in Queens, New York, in 1945, during World War II, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, but was still in the United States when Japan surrendered. He attended Fordham University on the GI Bill and a few years at Hillsdale College.

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I guess it counts for something to be a Marine but I always thought Captain Kangeroo was a pussy...

Marine RESERVE.

Yeah, but that dancing bear was the $hit!!!

I remember hearing about his WW2 service on Paul Harvey probably twenty years ago like it was yesterday. Watching Gun Smoke in our house when I was a kid was an event.

Seems there I was an urban legend going around that Mr Rogers was a Navy Seal and wore cardigans to cover up the tattoos on his arms.

Well, if that's the case, good thing no one mentioned he was a war hero. Mr.Douglas of Green Acres was never in the war but was a spy in Mexico. Something about him being in the circus and taking pictures for the US.

Eddie Albert? He was an active participant in the battle of Tarawa (Nov. 1943). Tarawa was one of the many bloody island battles of World War II and in the history of the U.S. Marine Corp. Albert was credited with rescuing up to 70 wounded Marines while under enemy fire. He accomplished this while he was skippering a relatively large landing craft. He was part of the first wave of attack. And made several trips to and from the landing zone. He was awarded the Bronze Star with a combat "V" for his bravery on that day. He did not speak about this publicly until it was mentioned several times in the 1990's in television documentaries about the battle. At the start of the war he enlisted in the Coast Guard. But later resigned his Coast Guard commission to accept a commission in the U.S. Naval Reserve. And that's what led to him being a part of Battle of Tarawa.

Eddie Albert in a Mexican Circus taking pics of what? Did you read this in the National Enquirer?

Eddie Albert was a spy for the US prior to military service which I had forgotten about. He worked for the Escalante Bros circus in Mexico monitoring Japanese and German (IIRC) activity, namely taking pictures of U-boats. Its in his biography. Not sure what a National Enquire is? Is it very educational?

I don't know how it was in 1945 but today's Marine reserves go through the same boot camp and same infantry school as active duty. Plus there isn't a single reserve unit who hasn't been active overseas in the last 20 years.

Only know what I been told by some Marines the DI would beat your @$$!

And neither was Mr. Rodgers, despite the popular Urban Legend.

I believe what you are saying, It just seems there wouldn’t have been much Japanese and German activity at a Mexican Circus.

BTW, were you just bored when you read Eddie Alberts biography?

I read, or did before my eyesight so bad, a lot of military books. I usually lean toward Vietnam. This book was about famous people and their connections to the war effort. It had segments from other books, Albert's biography in this case, on the individual being discussed. So, I didn't read his biography, just the part this author felt was relevant.

Back to ole Matt Dillon. This is from a Gunsmoke forum. Either 383 or 407, depending on how you count them.

bad guy slayer

FYI there is a website that has all of the Gunsmoke radio broadcasts from before TV took the world over, I often listen to them when traveling

that's amazing and strange that Gunsmoke has it's own message board