Ernest Borgnine dead at 95
- Thread starter my72jeep
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SoldierInAYear
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R.I.P
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Not to many of the old timers still left. Loved him in the Wild Bunch, among many films.
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Played many memorable military roles, starting with this one.
http://www.history.navy.mil/bios/borgnine_e.htm
http://www.history.navy.mil/bios/borgnine_e.htm
Borgnine in uniform during World War II.
. . . . . Borgnine graduated from New Haven's high school in 1935 and worked a stint selling vegetables off the back of a truck before enlisting. It was while he was pondering his future as a vegetable salesman (at the same time fully aware of how lucky he was to have a job in those lean years) that Borgnine's gaze fell upon a U.S. Navy recruiting poster. Not long thereafter he was in the Navy, an experience that he still credits with making a man out of him. It also provided a fertile atmosphere for the development of his future character in television's McHale's Navy.
The apprentice seaman remained in the Navy for ten years (including one hiatus), from October 1935 to October 1941 and then from January 1942 to September 1945. His first tour was served on board the four-stacker USS Lamberton (DD-119). During the 1930s the Lamberton operated out of San Diego, towing targets for surface combatants, submarines, and aircraft, a role that was to serve her well during World War II. She also participated in experimental minesweeping exercises and was redesignated DMS-1 (minesweeper, destroyer) in November 1940.
In the 1930's Ernest Borgnine served on board the USS Lamberton (DD-119), which towed targets out of San Diego. This photo of the ship's company includes Seaman Borgnine in the fourth row, second from the left.
(Ernest Borgnine collection)
In 1941 Borgnine left the Navy, only to reenlist after Pearl Harbor. From January 1942 until the end of the war he served in the USS Sylph (PY-12), a converted yacht devoted to antisubmarine-warfare activities throughout the war. Operating first out of Tompkinsville (New York) and then New London (Connecticut), the Sylph patrolled for German U-boats during 1942, a devastating year for American merchantmen off the East Coast. In the fall of 1943 she was assigned to Quonset Point, Rhode Island, and a year later to the naval base at Port Everglades, Florida, along with her unit, the surface division of the Atlantic Fleet's Antisubmarine Development Detachment. She was used mainly for training sonarmen and testing and researching new sound and antisubmarine equipment. The Sylph and her unit contributed greatly to the U.S. victory over Germany's vaunted undersea gray wolves.
During his naval service Borgnine rose in rank from seaman to gunner's mate first class. Upon his discharge in 1945, he was allowed to wear the American Campaign Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the American Defense Service Medal with Fleet Clasp, and the World War II Victory Medal.
He returned to New Haven but could not muster any enthusiasm for the life of factory work that seemed to loom before him. He seriously considered reenlisting in the Navy, but finally, encouraged by his mother, he decided to give show business a whirl. A logical choice, he concluded, as he had always liked to ham it up.
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ironduke57
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RIP. Sadly the helicopter which was used for AIRWOLF crashed between Cologne and Berlin in 1991. That would have been a worthy last ride for him.
Regards,
ironduke57
Regards,
ironduke57
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