The Christy Collection

Military Stories and Articles

2LT Alan Alda, U.S. Army (1956-1956)

2LT Alan Alda, U.S. Army (1956-1956)

Alan Alda is a name that instantly brings to mind the quick-witted, irreverent Army surgeon Hawkeye Pierce from the Emmy-winning series MASH. But there is more to Alda than Hollywood fame and clever one-liners. Long before he was making audiences laugh on television, Alda served in the United States Army Reserve, a chapter of his life that quietly shaped the authenticity he brought to one of TV’s most beloved characters. That combination of real-life experience and natural charisma helped MASH...

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Cpl Mel Brooks, U.S. Army (1944 – 1945)

Cpl Mel Brooks, U.S. Army (1944 – 1945)

Mel Brooks's Military Service “Springtime for Hitler” is one of the songs that made Mel Brooks famous. But did you know that this prolific actor, comedian, composer, and filmmaker served in World War II as a young man? Mel Brooks’s Early Life Mel Brooks was born Melvin James Kaminsky in 1926, the youngest of four boys. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York, in a Jewish family of modest means. When Brooks was two years old, his father passed away from kidney disease. Mel was raised by his mother and...

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