Actor Walter Matthau in the USAAF?

[gary1954]

I did not Know this. Is it news to anyone else that Walter Matthau was awarded six battle stars while serving on a B-17

[P51Mstg]

Tend not to believe that........

During World War II, Matthau served in the U.S. Army Air Forces with the Eighth Air Force in England as a B-24 Liberator radioman-gunner, in the same 453rd Bombardment Group as James Stewart. He reached the rank of staff sergeant and became interested in acting.

Several other sources seem to go with the B-24 story... Of course on the web, who knows who's copying from whom..... It appears your source was 99 Facts.... I did a quick check on one about John Wayne and it didn't seem to square up either.....

I have found this page to be pretty good.......

http://www.commonsensejunction.com/xtra ... ars-m.html

It goes with the B-24 story and no medals........

Bottom line, you believe who you want........

Mark H

[gary1954]

my very reason for posting one of the 99 facts here.
This forum is an amazing place where a lot of great information is proven to be either Fact or Fiction.

[jmkendall]

"Battle Stars" could mean anything from Service stars and/or recognition of subsequent awards. There would be nothing unusual with a radioman/gunner being awarded 7 Air Medals. Or one Air Medal with 6 oak leaf clusters ( aka 'battle stars'). Obviously if they got the term "battle star" wrong it is just as easy to imagine that correct term as "oak leaf cluster".

And seven ( 7) awards for an Air Medal is nothing unusual. In fact there are many who were awarded several dozen Air Medals.

[JFS61]

The problem with many of the entries found on the web are written by people with little (or no) knowledge of the military and its medals. Many of the entries speak of him receiving a National Defense Medal (which didn't exist at the time), but what they were actually referring to was undoubtedly the World War II Victory Medal (which served as a basis for the later NDSM). Also, many writers are unable to properly distinguish between battle stars for campaign service and actual medals (SSM and BSM).

Of all the entries I found on the web, this was the only one I found that appears to have the most basis in reality:

http://airforce.togetherweserved.com/us ... &ID=118672

Note that it has him receiving a GCM, ACM, EAME (with silver star for 5 battles/campaigns), and the aforesaid WWIIVM. Unfortunately, details regarding his combat record (if he indeed had one) are vague at best.

[Pathfinder]

Real name: WALTER (nmi) MATTHOW, ASN 12062683

If I recall correctly an airman receives an Air Medal for five (5) combat flights--and an OLC for each subsequent group of five...or a representative number of flying hours in a non combat situation.

His bio does not show even one AM...hmmmmm. The source references his MOS as radio-cryptographer...

[cptsmith]

I was in my bosses office the other day and was looking at his fathers medals that were in a display case. His father's orders were posted with the dates and locations of the 35 missions he flew before he returned home. He received a Air Medal with 7 clusters, a DFC, a Good Conduct medal and a Europe Theater medal with 2 battle stars. If Walter was on a flight crew he should have some Air Medals.