On his 95th birthday, today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Army Veteran Mel Brooks, who served during World War II and became an actor, comedian and director.
Mel Brooks, born in Brooklyn as Melvin Kaminsky in 1926, had dreams of working in showbusiness from a young age. After graduating from Eastern District High School, he attended Brooklyn College as a psychology major for a year before the Army drafted him in 1944. He went to Virginia Military Institute (VMI) as part of the Army Specialized Training Program, where he studied military engineering and other topics. He completed basic training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
Brooks joined the Army as a combat engineer. He served as a corporal with the 1104 Engineer Combat Battalion, 78th Infantry Division and defused land mines as the Allies advanced into Germany.
Following his service, Brooks went on to have a hugely successful film career as an actor, director, writer, comedian and producer. His most famous works include “Blazing Saddles,” “The Producers” and “Young Frankenstein,” among others. Brooks is one of the few people to have won an Oscar, an Emmy, a Grammy and a Tony award.
Thank you for your service!
Listen to Mel Brooks and Air Force Veteran Adrian Cronauer on this special Borne the Battle episode:
Nominate a Veteran for #VeteranOfTheDay
Do you want to light up the face of a special Veteran? Have you been wondering how to tell your Veteran they are special to you? VA’s #VeteranOfTheDay social media feature is an opportunity to highlight your Veteran and his/her service.
It’s easy to nominate a Veteran. Visit our blog post about nominating to learn how to create the best submission.
Contributors
Writer:
Editor:
Fact checker: L. Rebeca Ahring
Graphic artist:
Topics in this story
More Stories
This week’s Honoring Veterans Spotlight honors the service of Air Force Veteran Gavino Cavazos, who served from 1949 to 1973 during both the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
This week’s Honoring Veterans Spotlight honors the service of Army Veteran Howard Brown, who served during the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1969 and the Gulf War from 1969 to 1992.
This week’s Honoring Veterans Spotlight honors the service of Navy Veteran Nanette M. “Nan” DeRenzi, who served from 1984 to 2015.
Thank you for your service Sir.
Love to learn about the service of American men and women. As a Brooklyn girl myself, I appreciate what Mel’s early life must have been like. Things have changed a lot since he was 21 (me, too!) but bravery, a sense of duty and service of this kind is a monument to what it means to be an American, and a testimony to how much ALL Americans have given to this country, no matter where their ancestors came from. Love you, Mel!
And thank you. From the bottom of my heart.