Private First Class Raymond "Mike" Clausen served as crew chief aboard the helicopter piloted by Walt Ledbetter in January 1970. A series of alcohol-related incidents and NJPs kept Clausen at the same rank he'd achieved 4 years earlier when he enlisted, but his commitment and skills trumped any concern over his single stripe. As Ledbetter dropped his chopper into the minefield, Clausen guided him to a crater to touch down. Clausen saw the Marines on the ground, unable to move after watching many of their buddies blown apart by mines. Without any concern for himself, Clausen left the aircraft and began carrying casualties through the minefield back to the hovering chopper. When everyone was aboard, he guided Ledbetter into the second and third locations where Marines were stranded, performing the same actions each time the helicopter touched down. He entered the minefield a total of 6 times, carrying wounded to safety. When another mine detonated near the helicopter, Clausen was outside carrying a Marine. The explosion killed the corpsman and wounded 3 more Marines. Clausen helped them aboard and recovered the body of the corpsman. Not until all 19 Marines were accounted for aboard the CH-46 did Clausen give Ledbetter the signal to depart.
Shortly after the mission, Clausen again managed to get himself in trouble and was busted from PFC back to Private. He was discharged from the Marines in August 1970 when he returned home. For his heroism and incredible courage, in June 1971 President Nixon called Clausen to the White House to award him the Medal of Honor. Clausen was the only Marine Private of the war to receive the award. He died in May 2004 at age 56 from liver failure.
Autry, born in Oklahoma, appeared in serials such as Mystery Mountain (1934) and The Phantom Empire (1935). He acquired a large following and had his own radio show, called The Melody Ranch. On December 7, 1941, the radio show cast was rehearsing before a live audience when the news of the Pearl Harbor attack was announced. Not knowing what else to do, the actors kept to their scripts. The audience sat out the show but left in total silence. America had entered the Second World War.
Republic Pictures had Autry under contract. Since he was the fourth-rated star in Hollywood at the time (right after Spencer Tracy), the company refused to let him enlist. But Autry joined anyway and was sworn in on the air during a Melody Ranch broadcast, on Fourth of July 1942. He was fired immediately, and Republic found another singer, the “King of the Cowboys,” Roy Rogers.
At first, Autry was given an instant commission from Air Force Gen. “Hap” Arnold. But Sen. Harry S. Truman’s Committee had put an end to those types of celebrity promotions, and Autry went through basic training just like everyone else. He was assigned to Special Services and entertained at Army bases, while he continued to broadcast Melody Ranch from Luke Field, west of Phoenix, Arizona. He could have continued this rather soft duty, but he now made only $135 per month as a technical sergeant (his previous salary was $60,000 per month), so he famously said, “For the cut in pay I had taken, I felt I was entitled at least to get shot at.”
Since he already had his private pilot’s license, at his own expense, he took advanced lessons and was promoted to flight officer and finally assigned to the 91st Ferrying Squadron of the 555th Army Air Base Unit of the Air Transport Command. He didn’t ask for any favors, and as far as he knew, he didn’t receive any—though he did remember that he wore cowboy boots with his uniform for the entire war, and no one said a word.
Autry literally flew around the world. He left California for Hawaii, then Australia, up to India where he made the famous trip over the “hump” of the Himalayas to Kunming, China, and back again. He carried fuel, ammunition, guns, a few cases of scotch and lots and lots of “Spud” cigarettes. He was ordered back across India, where he stopped in Calcutta long enough to buy a freshly killed python skin so he could make it into boots. He flew on to the Middle East. In Haifa, he purposely developed a few days of engine trouble so he could tour the Holy Land; in Cairo, he met King Farouk’s belly dancer.
He was back in the states for V-E day, where he might have been released from service due to his age (he was 38), but to ensure that he got no special privileges, he was kept in service. The Army did finally offer him a discharge, but only if he would agree to do a USO tour of the South Pacific upon release. Since he had never been there, Autry jumped at the chance and performed for two more months on various islands until ending the war on Tinian, the home base for the atom bomb.
Back in California, he worked for Columbia for a while and then formed his own production company, buying up the rights to his name and all his own properties. He was one of the richest screen actors of his time, and friend and fellow cowboy Pat Buttram once announced, “Gene Autry used to ride into the sunset; now he owns it.”
TRUE WEST MAGAZINE - "Cowboys in Combat" March 4, 2009 Richard L. Hayes
