On February 25, 1945, he earned a Silver Star leading a platoon of the
5th Tank Battalion, 5th Marine Division on Iwo Jima.
Enlisted in the US Marine Corps while working on Les tigres volants (1942). He was still
filming his part as his reporting date approached, but the crew worked
overtime to finish shooting his scenes. Shooting wrapped at 12:30 a.m.,
and he was with the Marines in San Diego 7-1/2 hours later.
