... Even Hollywood - which today is the bastion of the Left's antimilitary propaganda machine - sent its best to war prior to Vietnam.  Indeed, in World War II, a new class of cultural icons -- this time from Hollywood -- were as thoroughly represented in the military services as any other group.  Among those who were drafted or volunteered to fight were almost all of the movie industry's leading actors.  Topping the list was Clark Gable, who was technically too old to serve.  Yet he joined up, enlisting as a private before becoming promoted up the ranks and attending Officer Training School.  Gable flew him B-17's over Europe, as did Jimmy Stewart.  After starting as a "buck  private peeling potatoes," Stewart attained officer rank and led hundreds of men, including another future Academy award winner, and Stewart's radioman, Walter Matthau, was awarded six campaign stars.  Another airman, Charles Bronson, was a tail gunner on B-29 bombers in the Pacific.  Cowboy star Gene Autry announced his enlistment or the air, and went on to fly C-47 cargo planes in the Burma Theater, while Star Trek creator Gene Roddenbury flew C-46's with the 8th Army Air Force.  Jack Palance, famous for his role as "Curly" in City Slickers, underwent facial reconstructive surgery after his B-17 crash landed in Britain in 1943.  Burgess Meredith, Cameron Mitchell, Kevin McCarthy, Oscar winner Martin Balsam, Jackie Coogan [Uncle Fester] (a glider pilot), Dale Robertson, George (Superman) Reeves, Russell Johnson (the professor on Gilligan's Island), Robert Preston, George Goebel, Gene Raymond, Karl Malden, Red buttons, and Robert Taylor also put in time in the US Army Air Force.