Famous Military Veterans a to z

Howard H. Aiken was a 20th century mathematician and engineer who came up with the idea behind the Mark I, a forerunner to modern computing devices.

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin was one of the first people to walk on the moon. He and flight commander Neil Armstrong made the Apollo 11 moonwalk in 1969.

Filmmaker Robert Altman is best known for his highly individualistic films and use of simultaneous layers of dialogue.

Sherwood Anderson was a U.S. short-story writer and novelist known for his groundbreaking characterization and narrative forms.

James Armistead was an enslaved African American, best known for his work as a spy during the American Revolution.

Bea Arthur was an Emmy and Tony Award-winning actress who starred in the television shows Maude and The Golden Girls.

American empresario Stephen Austin, a.k.a. “the father of Texas,” created the first Anglo American colony in the Tejas region of Mexico, later to become Texas.

Vernon Baker was a highly decorated soldier and the only living black WWII veteran to earn the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Imamu Amiri Baraka is an African-American poet and scholar. He has served as professor emeritus of Africana Studies at the State Unversity of New York at Stony Brook.

Saul Bellow was a celebrated novelist who won the Pulitzer, the Nobel Prize for Literature and the National Book Award for Fiction three times.

Tony Bennett is an American jazz vocalist, best known for performing standards and his signature song, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco."

Thomas Hart Benton was an esteemed 20th century painter and muralist renowned for works like “America Today” and “Persephone.”

Yogi Berra is best known as a Yankees player who was widely considered one of the best catchers of all-time. Later in life, he managed the team, becoming only one of six managers to lead both National and American League teams to the World Series.

Army nurse Florence Blanchfield is best known for her struggle to attain full military rank, and for equal rights in the military.

American actor Peter Boyle is best known as the grumpy dad on the CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, a role he held for eleven years.

James J. Braddock the American world heavyweight boxing champion from 1935 until 1937. His astonishing comeback in 1934 earned him the nickname, "The Cinderella Man."

American film Charles Bronson is best known for playing tough-guy, vigilante roles in films like The Magnificent Seven (1960) and Death Wish (1974).

Mel Brooks is an iconic filmmaker known for comedies like The Producers, Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, among other works.

Republican Scott Brown was elected to represent Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate in 2010.

James Buchanan was the 15th president of the United States. He served from 1857 to 1861, during the build-up to the Civil War.

Canadian actor Raymond Burr is best known for his title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside.

Actor Red Buttons got his name from the flame-colored hair and uniform as a bellhop. He is best known as a comedian but he had a prolific film career as well.

Sid Caesar is a comedian and the creator of the classic Emmy Award-winning television variety program Your Show of Shows.

Art Carney was an Oscar-winning actor and comedian best known for his role as Jackie Gleason's best friend, Ed Norton, on the pioneering sitcom The Honeymooners.

Kit Carson was an American frontiersman, trapper, soldier and Indian agent who made an important contribution to the westward expansion of the United States.

Jacqueline Cochran is a pioneering 20th century pilot who was an advocate for female aviators during WWII and the first woman to break the sound barrier.

Tim Conway is an American comedian and actor, best known for co-starring alongside Carol Burnett on The Carol Burnett Show.

Actor Jackie Coogan played Charlie Chaplin's sidekick in the silent film The Kid and Uncle Fester on the TV sitcom The Addams Family.

Child actor Jackie Cooper was in the Our Gang short film series and the Little Rascals television show. He also starred in the 1931 film The Champ.

Roger Corman is a film director and producer who helmed B-Movie classics and helped launch the careers of James Cameron, John Sayles, Ron Howard and others.

Howard Cosell was a sports broadcaster who had a distinctive and influential on-air personality.

Davy Crockett was a frontiersman, legendary folk hero and three-time Congressman. He fought in the War of 1812 and died at the Alamo in the Texas Revolution.

George Custer was an American general who in 1876 led 210 men into battle at Little Bighorn against Native Americans. Custer and his men were killed.

Willie Davenport was an Olympic athlete and medal winner and one of only a few Americans to compete in both the Summer and Winter games.

Jefferson Davis was a 19th century U.S. senator best known as the president of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War.

Charles G. Dawes was a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize who became the 30th U.S. vice president under Calvin Coolidge.

James Dickey was a Poet Laureate and novelist best known for his 1970 book Deliverance.

John Dickinson, an American statesman often referred to as the "Penman of the Revolution," wrote letters that helped turn opinion against the Townshend Acts created by the Parliament of Great Britain.

Howard Dietz was a songwriter and the creator of the famous MGM lion mascot.

Bob Dole is a former member of the U.S. House (1961-69) and U.S. Senate (1969-96) from Kansas. In 1996, he was the Republican Party's candidate for the presidency.

Paul Dooley drew comic strips for his local newspaper before he turned to the big screen, taking roles in films such as Sixteen Candles and Breaking Away.

Actor Robert Duvall has been in some of the most acclaimed films of all time, including To Kill A Mockingbird, Apocalypse Now, Lonesome Dove and The Godfather.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th president of the United States, promoted Atoms for Peace at the United Nations General Assembly in order to ease Cold War tensions.

Ralph Ellison was a 20th century African-American writer and scholar best known for his renowned, award-winning novel Invisible Man.

Christopher Ferguson became famous when NASA selected him to fly aboard Atlantis on the last ever space shuttle launch.

Victor Fleming was a Hollywood director, notably helming Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz.

Henry Ossian Flipper was the first African American to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point. As second lieutenant with the 10th Cavalry, he was framed for embezzlement.

Shelby Foote was an American historian and novelist who wrote The Civil War: A Narrative. He was also a significant contributor to the Ken Burns series The Civil War.

Publisher Malcolm Forbes was the son of B.C. Forbes, who founded Forbes magazine. Malcolm Forbes eventually worked his way up to becoming company president.

James Forten was an African-American businessman and black leader in pre-Civil War Philadelphia.

Dubbed “King of Hollywood,” Gone with the Wind actor Clark Gable epitomized Hollywood's Golden Age, and was a legend for his on- and off-screen romances.

James Garfield is best known as the 20th president of the United States. He was assassinated after only a few months in office.

James Garner is an actor known for his lead role in the TV show Maverick and for films such as Murphy’s Romance and Decoration Day.

John Glenn was the first U.S. astronaut to orbit Earth, completing three orbits in 1962. He has also served as an Ohio senator.

Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, a mobster turned government witness, is best known for testifying against his mafia associates in exchange for government protection.

Peter Graves was an enormously successful film and TV actor. He is known for his role in Airplane! and for hosting A&E's signature series Biography.

Hank Greenberg became one of Major League Baseball's first Jewish super stars, while playing for the Detroit Tigers.

Woody Guthrie was a singer-songwriter, and one of the legendary figures of American folk music.

Alex Haley was an American writer whose works of historical fiction and reportage depicted the struggles of African Americans.

Alexander Hamilton, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and major author of the Federalist papers, was the United States' first secretary of the treasury.

Charles Hamilton was an autograph dealer, handwriting expert and author of works like Great Forgers and Famous Fakes.

Dashiell Hammett was an American writer of hard-boiled crime fiction, including the novels The Maltese Falcon and The Thin Man.

Walter Haut is best known for drafting a 1947 press release for the U.S. Army that claimed a "flying disc" had landed in Roswell, New Mexico.

Rutherford B. Hayes was the 19th president of the United States and oversaw the end of the rebuilding efforts of the Reconstruction.

Republican, Jesse Helms was a United States Senator from North Carolina who served for five terms (1973-2003). He was known for his right-wing politics and opposition to civil rights legislation.

Guitarist, singer, and songwriter, Jimi Hendrix delighted audiences in the 1960s with his outrageous electric guitar playing skills and his experimental sound.

Charles H. Houston was an attorney and vice-dean who worked in important civil rights cases, ultimately helping to end Jim Crow laws.

Statesman Samuel Houston was a key political figure in the creation of the state of Texas. He was elected the first president of the Republic of Texas in 1836.

Noted for his exceptional good looks and comedic film performance, Rock Hudson was an iconic actor who, later in life, contracted and died from the AIDS virus.

Samuel P. Huntington was a political scientist who wrote the influential book The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order.

Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States. He is known for founding the Democratic Party and for his support of individual liberty.

Stonewall Jackson was a leading Confederate general during the U.S. Civil War, commanding forces at Manassas, Antietam, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville.

Daniel James, an alumni of the famous Tuskegee Institute, was the first African-American four-star general in the U.S. Air Force.