Entertainment

Yogi Berra and J.D. Salinger among famous heroes of D-Day

Looking back at D-Day on Friday’s 70th anniversary of the Allied invasion, many of us know the event that changed the course of WWII only through such great films as “The Longest Day.” But a number of Hollywood stars — as well as stars in other fields — were actually part of the forces that stormed the beaches of Normandy.

Here are a few of the heroes:

Pfc. Charles Durning, US Army

Though Durning played a Nazi in “To Be or Not to Be” (left), he served his country proud on D-Day.20th Century Fox/Everett Collection (left); Getty Images (right)

Character actor Charles Durning — Jessica Lange’s besotted father in “Tootsie” — enlisted in the Army and was among the first wave of American soldiers to land on Omaha Beach on D-Day. He was the only member of his unit to survive a machine gun ambush. Later on, in Belgium, he was stabbed by a German soldier whom he killed with a rock.

Durning then fought in the Battle of the Bulge and was captured with his company — he was among the few to escape the German massacre of the prisoners. He earned three Purple Hearts and a Silver Star for his service. Ironically, he netted an Oscar nomination for playing a Nazi officer in the 1983 remake of “To Be or Not to Be,” with Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft.

Lt. James Doohan, 13th Field Artillery Regiment of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division

“Star Trek’s” James Doohan served in Royal Canadian Artillery Regiment.Getty Images

Canada’s James Doohan, best known as Scotty from “Star Trek,” landed on Juno Beach on D-Day. The Royal Canadian Artillery Regiment soldier caught several rounds on the first morning of the landing and lost a finger. One bullet hit him in the chest, but was stopped by a silver cigarette case he was carrying.

Befitting his future role keeping the Enterprise flying, Doohan was also a pilot with a wild reputation that earned him the nickname “craziest pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force.”

Lt. Col. David Niven, British army

David Niven played the part of a soldier both on screen and off.Everett Collection (2)

David Niven, working with his country’s Army Film Unit, made two movies during the war — “The First of the Few” (1942) and “The Way Ahead” (1944) — with an eye on helping to gain support for the war effort.

Niven took part in the invasion of Normandy, landing there a few days after D-Day. As part of the Phantom Signals Unit, he helped locate and report enemy positions. Niven later starred in the Oscar-nominated WWII film “The Guns of Navarone.”

Seaman Second Class Yogi Berra, US Navy

Former Yankee slugger Yogi Berra manned a 50-foot rocket-launcher boat at Normandy on D-Day.Getty Images (2)

Yogi Berra is a star from a different field — the baseball field — who risked his life on D-Day. The Yankee Hall of Famer manned a 50-foot rocket-launcher boat at Normandy that sat some 60 feet from the beach.

Staff Sgt. J.D. Salinger, US Army

“Catcher in the Rye” author J.D. Salinger worked on the novel during the war.AP

J.D. Salinger was an Army sergeant who hit the bloody shore at Utah Beach on D-Day. It later came out that he was carrying the first six chapters of what became “The Catcher in the Rye.”

The writer later fought in the Battle of the Bulge and was among the American troops who liberated the Dachau concentration camp — an experience, some say, that haunted such stories as “For Esmé – With Love and Squalor.”