Eastwood’s time in the army benefited him as it introduced him to Hollywood and kickstarted his career in the entertainment industry.
Clint Eastwood has shown his tremendous skills in acting, directing, producing, and composing in the entertainment industry, and even led a successful period as the mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California back in 1986–all of which won him spectacular acclamation and respect. But those weren’t the only fields that the 93-year-old excelled in.
As surprising as it might seem, Eastwood has also served for a successful period in the military as a swimming instructor. But during his career in the army, there was a time when he didn’t want to go and fight for the United States of America. This was the time of the Korean War–also the time when the legend was drafted into the army.
Clint Eastwood Didn’t Want To Fight In The Korean War
Shortly after World War II, the world saw the inception of another big war: The Korean War, which started between what is now referred to as the Republic of Korea (aka South Korea) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (aka North Korea).
It was during this when Clint Eastwood was drafted into the US Army. However, the legendary star, who was not so legendary back then, didn’t want to go to the fight just like a few other of his fellow comrades. As per Military.com, Eastwood’s reaction when asked to fight in the Korean War was:
“I was drafted during the Korean War. None of us wanted to go … It was only a couple of years after World War II had ended. We said, ‘Wait a second? Didn’t we just get through with that?’”
However, he didn’t quite have a choice and ended up serving at Fort Ord, California from 1951 to 1953. Despite that, a major part of his career in the army was to his advantage: because of his odd jobs before as a firefighter and lifeguard among others, his swimming skills had gotten incredible, and those are just what helped him out throughout his military service.
Not only did he spend his entire career in the army as a swimming instructor, but all thanks to his period of serving in the military, he got introduced to Hollywood types, which marked the beginning of his interest and then the remarkable career that followed in the entertainment industry of Hollywood.
Other Celebrities Who Have Served In The US Armed Forces
While Clint Eastwood is one major celebrity who has served in the military, he isn’t the only one. Numerous other celebrity veterans, too, have stood for their country in the army.
This includes some of the biggest and most well-known celebrities in the industry like Morgan Freeman, Adam Driver (yep, he served in the military as well when he was just 17), Prince Harry, King of Rock and Roll: Elvis Presley, J.R. Martinez, and David Alvarez, among others.
But the list wasn’t restricted to men only: several female celebrities proved themselves useful to the US Army as well. The late Betty White, the late Bea Arthur, and the Howard Stern Show cohost Robin Quivers are some remarkable names among the female military servers.
To honor all these celebrity military veterans and all of the other legendarily brave military veterans of the United States Armed Forces who were discharged from the military under all conditions except dishonorable, the United States of America celebrates the 11th of November as ‘Veterans Day’ or ‘Armistice Day’.