National Archives Veterans Day Feature: Bogart Joined the Navy at 18, Gable Flew Combat Missions at 41 and Earned the Distinguished Flying Cross
The National Archives Museum in Washington is marking Veterans Day (November 11) with a feature on the military records of two Hollywood actors: Humphrey Bogart, who joined the U.S. Navy at 18, and Clark Gable, who enlisted at 41 and flew combat missions over Europe. Both men's files are part of the Persons of Exceptional Prominence records held by the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri.
Bogart went on to star in Casablanca and The African Queen. In the spring of 1918, the 18-year-old joined the Navy; his application for enrollment is dated May 28, 1918. He trained aboard USS Granite State in New York and at the Naval Training Camp in Pelham Bay Park, then transferred in November 1918 to the transport ship USS Leviathan, which carried troops home from Europe after World War I ended.
His file also holds a blemish: in April 1919 he missed his ship, USS Santa Olivia, when it sailed from Hoboken, New Jersey. He was originally listed as a deserter, but the offense was eventually recorded as absent without leave, for which he received three days of solitary confinement on bread and water. Bogart separated from the Navy on June 18, 1919, having attained the rank of petty officer second class.
Gable was already a Hollywood leading man when he enlisted as a private in the Army Air Forces on August 12, 1942, months after his wife, Carole Lombard, died in a plane crash during a war bond tour. He graduated from Officers' Candidate School in Miami Beach, Florida, as a second lieutenant on October 28, 1942, attended the Flexible Gunnery School, and in February 1943 went to England to film Combat America, a documentary about aerial gunners, flying several combat missions himself, including one aboard the B-17 Flying Fortress Delta Rebel No. 2.
For his service Gable was awarded the Air Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross. He returned to the United States in October 1943 and was relieved from active duty as a major on June 12, 1944; his discharge papers are signed by Captain Ronald Reagan.
The museum's temporary exhibition Opening the Vault is currently on view, open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The Archives notes that Official Military Personnel Files hold a wealth of information for historians, biographers and genealogists, and the two files highlighted for Veterans Day show the servicemen behind the screen images.
Source: National Archives
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：年轻的 Humphrey Bogart（左，海军制服）与 Clark Gable（右，飞行装具）军装合影。美国国家档案馆藏，公共领域。/ A young Humphrey Bogart (left) in his Navy uniform and Clark Gable (right) in flight gear. National Archives records, public domain.
