What Were Charles Bronson's Military Medals?

Great stuff. So many veterans in movies when I grew up. Hollywood lost its way. Not sure if you have covered James Garner yet.

Keep covering those Slavs.

Thank you.

When you read about him he was one not to be mess with, he was a real tough guy and did not take any BS. Great video! Charles During would be a good one.

He was as tough as old boots I hear.

During world war II, the Army Good Conduct Medal may be awarded on completion of one year of continuous service rather than three.

The Institute of Heraldry of the US Army states "The criteria was amended by Executive Order 9323, dated 31 March 1943, to authorize award for three years service after 7 December 1941 or one year service while the United States is at war." This Executive Order was effective from 1943-1953, and superseded by Executive Order 10444, dated 10 April 1953.

His presidential unit award would be worn on his right side since he was army. However, the configuration you show is correct for any other branch.

Also, if he did indeed earn a good conduct medal, his incident could be kept off record in many ways. Perhaps the other guy started or initiated the brawl and was likely afraid of further investigation, or the unit took a liking to Bronson and didn't want to take the issue any further.

Good Conduct was awarded every 3 years of service (, During war this was lessen, My grandfather lost 2 strips while in Europe, for disciplinary reasons, including punching his LT. But still got a Good Conduct Medal.

What a great story. Have you covered Audie Murphy?

Very interesting. Cheers.

The bombardiers received their own highly specialized training and were usually officers. I doubt Bronson ever filled that role.

Why is a Unit Citation with his personal ribbons

You need to do a video on Lt Cmdr. Jonathan 'Jonny' Kim. Navy Seal, MD, Astronaut currently aboard International Space Station.

The 2nd ribbon after the Purple Heart is the Air Medal.

1985 i was at barksdale afb, Louisiana (sac) for usaf leadership school. I was told that a week before my arrival that there was a usaf ww2 reunion and actor Charles Bronson was there. He wanted to talk about the war and airplanes, everyone else wanted him to talk about Hollywood and the movies. I was later told he never attended another reunion.

Would be interested to see if Gal Gadot has any medals.

I know more about the B-17 than the B-29, (I’ve even walked through several B-17s and flown in one.) But it my understanding that gunners on a B-29 were quite flexible when it came to which turrets they controlled. A gunner in the aft gunner section could not only control the aft gun turrets, but he could also control the forward gunner turrets.

An interesting story from the movie, The Great Escape, which he was part of the cast. Ironically, a tunneler with claustrophobia. Donald Pleasance, a British Airman who was shot down and was an actual Pow and went onto fame as Bond Villans, kept on offering advice to the director which infuriated the director. Bronson, who knew his service told the director to shut up and listen to him. Which, from then on the director did to the benefit of the movie.

Remember, these WW2 guys would have been awarded and wearing "Ruptured Duck" medals and patches on their uniforms upon discharge, too. They got free transportation home, usually, as a "courtesy" by companies when they wore the patch on their uniforms.

Excellent video 📹. He was one of my favorite movie actors of all time. Thank you for doing this video.

Its a shame nothing concrete could be dug up on this brilliant actor........Danny in the Great Escape was my favorite character.
Daniel I'm being a pain in the backside again. How about a look at some hero's who won the Dicken medal ? Was there any foreign equivalent ?

I served in the 80's for 3 years, got in some trouble and still received a good conduct medal when I got out.

My dad served in Africa and then Italy. Master Sargent. He never talked about anything except 3 stories. 1, Standing in line to get a beer if Africa, he got two. Said they tasted so bad he gave them to another soldier. 2, Standing in line to get an Ice Cream. And 3, helping a sailor to paint the transport ship in return for getting all the milk he wanted to drink. Not another word.

Albert jacka

I had heard years ago that Bronson was wounded as a gunner while flying on a mission in the Pacific. But I have never found anyone to know anything more specific about the incident.

During wartime, the Good Conduct Medal is awarded for just one year's faithful service, not three.

This is the most detailed report I've seen on Bronson's military service. Other actors who served as aerial gunners in WWII include the following men. I believe Cameron Mitchell was a USAAF combat gunner during the war. Brian Keith was a Marine combat aerial gunner. James Best was a B-17 gunner, but arrived too late for combat. I think Paul Newman was a Navy gunner, but just missed some harrowing combat do to illness. Many men in his unit were killed and he felt a strong sense of guilt over it.

Thanks for doing this. You had to do some real research on this one.

My dad was born in 1920 Middle class family in an upscale area. He rode the irons (AKA the Tension rods under the floor of a Wooden Boxcar) to see the countryside. His mother toured Europe in the period just before WW1 with the trip home on the Trans-Siberian express then to Japan and across the Pacific so a full round the world trip. His father was field artillery officer in WW I. By Dad was a transport Medic in WW II serving on troop ships and base hospitals across the Pacific.
Bronson was tough as nails.

The Air Medal is sometimes called 'the ruptured duck'.

Most genuine hero don't brag about it.

There are good movies and bad movies, and then there are Bronson movies. Good or bad, a Bronson movie has to be watched; after all, it’s A BRONSON MOVIE!

Bronsos buddy Telly Savalas only had a purple heart.

You should look at Canadian actor Robert Clothier.

I would wager that one of two things happened with Bronson's Good Conduct Medal.
1. His indiscipline at Gunnery School was filed locally and stayed at Gunnery School when he transferred to the Pacific Theater or.
2. They collected up all the guys who were eligible for the medal, didn't cross checked the discipline records and slide them in front of the commander for signature.
While I'm sure the conversation(s) with Jimmy Stewart were interesting, I would still prefer to observe his interactions with Lee Marvin! I'm sure those were quite colorful.

I am a US Army veteran. I enlisted in 1995, but I received an Article 15 (Non-Judicial Punishment) in 1997 that resulted in a demotion. I still received a Good Conduct Medal in 1998. It is awarded through the battalion S1 (Personnel) office, at the discretion of the battalion commander. That means there is some latitude, and apparently my commander did not think that my previous misconduct was so egregious as to disqualify me. In another battalion, I may have had to wait 3 years from my infraction to qualify. The good news is that I retired after 20+ years of service, and it was the only official stain on my record.

I read an account years ago by an American serviceman who wrote that Bronson was a tail gunner on his aircraft to debunk rumors that Bronson's war service was exaggerated.

great story about bronson standing up for donald pleasance on the set of the great escape,

Forgetting the most heavily decorated WWII US vet of them all....?

I had no idea Charles was a veteran, his experiences before and after the war would have had an impact on his character castings in his early movies! The dirty dozen, when he defended a unit member against the MPs, communicating with the Russian prisoners on their way out to cut trees and of course as Danny the tunnel king as a previous coal miner! Its amazing how circumstances can line up!😅

It was also said that Charles Bronson received the Bronze Star

I'm constantly surprised at how many of the Greatest Generation fought against the Axis Powers whether in the European Theater of Operations [ ETO ] or the Pacific Theater of Operations [ PTO ] , and how many actors and actresses quietly served with distinction and honor ! With little to no special fanfare or recognition [ Jimmy Stewart, Clark Gable, to name but a few ! ] As a fellow veteran, I say to one and all, "Thank you for your sacrifice, your courage under fire frequently, and here's a salute from one USAF veteran to others ! "

Mccarthy was never going after Charlie, Charlie was more of a patriot than that jug artist, who on earth is wanting to tangle with a healthy & vital Charles Bronson

One reference I read stated that his gunnery position was in the nose. Didn't make much difference; I think most if not all B 29 guns could be controlled from any gunnery station. Another reference indicated that he was wounded in combat and received the purple heart. He changed his last name to Bronson in 1954; he and his first wife were looking at street names driving through Hollywood and they thought Bronson was a good name (Bronson Ave.).

I served 3 years in the Army. Never received the Good Conduct medal. My commandy officer said, "If you're getting out, you don't need it." There waer 2 others everyone in the unit was supposed to get, but didn't.

Chances are the reason he was a Corporal was because he was demoted because of the punishment

Bronson was one of my favourite actors, he oozed credibility in ever roll he took on, if Bronson was in it I’d watch it that simple, huge respect for the man and actor, 👍

UK military: Good conduct medal is awarded after 15 years service! (Long Service & Good Conduct Medal)

It pisses me off when I hear americans say that WW2 started in 1941. You were just late to the war that started in 1939!