Military Service · 5:34am Oct 31st, 2023
Elvis Presley was in the military in the 1950s John Wayne (famous for playing military roles & cowboys) was A3 (sole financial support of his family) & never served.
Rudyard Kipling also never served (Wrote a LOT of military stories). Bad eyes + too old & married for WW1.
Hemingway drove an ambulance in WW1 + was in Spain during the Fascist conquest.
Ronald Reagan did enlist in the Airforce despite being too near sighted to qualify.
George Carlin (famously anti war) was in the military. Court-martialed twice & given a Bad Conduct Discharge (second worse type).
Of 44 POTUS, 31 had some form of military service (counting state militias, National Guard, Continental Army & reserves).
James Buchanan was the only POTUS to enlist & never become an officer. Of course, up until WW1, you recruited a certain number of people, they made you an officer, no training needed. Plus, up until the Civil War, a number of state militias let units elect their officers.
