McEachin was awarded medals of valor for acts of gallantry and heroism performed in the Korean War. The awards include the esteemed Silver Star and Purple Heart.

McEachin sustained multiple wounds in combat and served in the military for a period of six years. He had earned the medals in 1952, but didn't receive them until some 52 years after discharge.

McEachin has over 125 movie and television credits, and you can read more about him on his website.

Read his biography online.

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"And so castles made of sand, fall in the sea, eventually." - Jimi Hendrix

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Chapman was based in Fort Lewis, Washington.

In December 1998, Serbian guards blocked PFC Jarred King's way, demanding he surrender his weapon.  Working as a driver for MAJ David Miller, King remained calm and stood ground eventually diffusing the situation.

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WHEELER ARMY AIRFIELD, Hawaii (Army News Service, March 31, 1999) -- In a ceremony befitting a war hero, soldiers and pilots of the 25th Infantry Division (Light), said farewell this month to the AH-1F Cobra helicopter, the Army's first dedicated attack aircraft.

The last active-duty unit to employ the Cobra -- the1st Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment -- retired the Vietnam-era gunship following a final show of force March 15 in the skies over Oahu.

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United States Postal Service Honors West Point with Commemorative stamp (16 March 2002)

Hall of Famers in History:

H.H. "Hap" Arnold - Arnold, H. H. "Hap" - Led Army Air Forces in World War II. First and only aviator to attain five-star rank, joining Generals Marshall, Eisenhower, MacArthur and Bradley in this honor.

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Clark Gable - At age 41, Clark Gable enlisted in the Army Air Corps. After Officers Candidate School, he was assigned to shoot films about aerial gunnery. Gable served with the 351st Bomb Group in Polebrook, England - volunteering for combat duty.  He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal for several combat missions with the 351st Bomb Group 510th Bomb Squadron while filming footage for the movie Combat America .  He rose to the rank of Major by the time he was discharged.

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"First Lieutenant Audie L. Murphy (then Staff Sergeant, and Second Lieutenant) (from Legion of Merit Citation), Infantry, United States Army, for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services in Italy and France, as Platoon Sergeant, Platoon Leader and Company Commander of Company "B", 15th Infantry, 3rd Infantry Division, from 22 January 1944 to 18 February 1945. First Lieutenant Murphy has always carried out his missions, no matter how hazardous, with marked ability. He often assumed leadership of his platoon in the absence of sufficient commissioned personnel and so intelligently and courageously led his men that he was commissioned an officer during the French campaign and commanded his company in a superior manner during the obliteration of the Colmar Pocket. First Lieutenant Murphy's personal bravery, his skill in imparting his own knowledge of enemy tactics to his men, and his voluntary assumption of hazardous patrols and missions have benefited his unit to an immeasureable degree." Entered military service from Texas.

On 21 September, 1945, Audie was released from the Army and performed in several Hollywood movies. Murphy is known reverently as the "Most Decorated U.S. combat soldier of World War II."

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Clint Eastwood Jr. - joined the U.S. Army during the Korean War, becoming a swimming instructor at Fort Ord in Monterey, California. He swam three miles back to shore after a plane crash into the Pacific Ocean.

[Photo submitted by Darren Allison]

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Joe Louis, World Champion boxer, joined the U.S. Army ranks in 1942. Serving as an athletic instructor, he also travelled to many installations, and camps giving boxing exhibitions. He ultimately obtained the "The Legion of Merit."

Louis served in other ways, as well. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, he donated a boxing purse to the Navy Relief Fund, repeating this same stunt soon thereafter by supporting the Army Relief Fund. This was no publicity stunt, however, since most considered him a generous and giving humanitarian, and worked very actively in the Civil Rights Movement.

Louis is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

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George S. Patton, Jr. - Graduated U.S. Military Academy class of 1909, George S. Patton, Jr. was a member of the 1912 U.S. Olympic Team and served as commanding general of the 7th Army 1942-44, and commander of the 3rd Army European Theater 1944-45. Source: United States Military Academy Website.

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Teddy "Rough Rider" Roosevelt - Awarded Posthumous Medal of Honor was honored during a ceremony 16 January 2001 in the Roosevelt Room in the Whitehouse, by President Clinton. The former leader of the First United States Volunteer Cavalry was recognized for valor in the Battle of San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War a century ago. 

Roosevelt, on horseback, led dismounted Rough Riders and white and black Army regulars up Kettle Hill, in Cuba. Then he led them during the assault on San Juan Hill.

Receiving the award at this time was the result of a hard faught campaign by decendants and supporters of Theodore Roosevelt, including the Veterans of Foreign Wars and Navy League. Great-grandson Tweed Roosevelt was on hand to accept the award. The award was unanimously approved by both houses of Congress in 1998.

Theodore Roosevelt was born in New York City in 1858. In 1898, he became a Lieutenant-Colonel of the 1st US Volunteer Cavalry Regiment (the "Rough Riders"). Later, Roosevelt was elected as Governor of New York State, and then in 1900 become Vice-President of the United States under President McKinley. At age 42, after McKinley was assasinated, Roosevelt becomes the 26th President of the United States. Roosevelt died in 1919 at age 60.

Also reveiving a posthumous award was Civil War veteran Sgt. Andrew Jackson Smith, who was cited for valor in saving the 55th Massachusetts Voluntary Infantry colors during the Civil War Battle of Honey Hill, S.C., November 30, 1864.

Irving Berlin 1888 - 1989

Born Israel Beilin in Russia in1888, Irving Berlin immigrated with his family to New York in 1893. During his teens he sang for coins tossed by salon patrons and eventually became a singing waiter. In 1907 he published his first song, "Marie from Sunny Italy," and by 1911 had his first hit with "Alexander's Ragtime Band."

Berlin was a U.S. Army private stationed at Camp Upton on Long Island, N.Y. in 1918 when he wrote the score for an all-soldier revue, "Yip, Yip, Yaphank." The song he wrote for the finale didn't seen right for the show, so he put it away for 20 years. That song eventually became perhaps his best-known work: "God Bless America." It was first sung by Kate Smith as part of an Armistice Day program on Nov. 11, 1938, and it became an immediate hit.

Over five decades, Berlin produced an outpouring of ballads, dance numbers, novelty tunes and love songs. Berlin standards include "White Christmas," "Always," "Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better," "Cheek to Cheek," "Puttin' on the Ritz," "Heat Wave," and "Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning" from "This is the Army."

After seeing "This is the Army," General Dwight D. Eisenhower requested that Berlin take the soldier show on tour, which he did for three years, entertaining troops from Europe to the Pacific and establishing the tradition of "entertainment for the soldier, by the soldier."

Berlin wrote the scores to more than a dozen Broadway musicals, including "Annie Get Your Gun" and provided songs for dozens of Hollywood movie musicals.

An unabashed patriot, his love for - and generosity to - his country is legendary. Through several of his foundations, he donated millions of dollars in royalties to Army Emergency Relief, the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and other organizations.

Among Berlin's many awards and honors were the Academy Award for "White Christmas," the Presidential Medal for Merit, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a Congressional Gold Medal., a special Tony Award and commemoration on a 2002 U.S. Postage stamp.

Songwriter, performer, theatre owner, music publisher, soldier and patriot, he wrote over 1,200 songs and defined Jerome Kern's famous maxim: "Irving Berlin has no place in American music. He IS American music."

He died at the age of 101 on Sept. 22, 1989, in New York City. His classic songs continue to be performed on Broadway, in movies and by vocal artists from opera to country, cabaret and jazz. The music of Irving Berlin will be with us always.

In Oct 2002, The Army Entertainment Division, a Morale, Welfare, and Recreation program, payed tribute to Irving Berlin by naming their facility at Fort Belvoir after him. The Irving Berlin Center gives soldiers the opportunity to take the stage as singers, actors, dancers, and musicians in a creative outlet. This center is the first and only military building to carry Berlin's name.