Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 â September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, and entrepreneur. Newman was the recipient of numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
After Newman graduated from high school in 1943, he joined the Navy’s V-12 program at Yale University in the hopes of becoming a pilot. His hopes were dashed, however, when it was discovered that he was color blind. Instead of completing the program, Newman was shipped to basic training where he qualified to be a rear-seat radioman and gunner for torpedo bombers. In 1944, Newman was sent to Barber’s Point where he operated in torpedo bomber squadrons designed to train replacement pilots. He was later stationed on an aircraft carrier as a turret gunner for an Avenger aircraft.
One of Newman’s later posts was aboard the USS Bunker Hill which fought in the Battle of Okinawa in 1945. In a stroke of fate, his pilot developed an ear infection and they were held back from flying in the Okinawa campaign. Because of this, he and his pilot avoided the destruction of their ship, and the deaths of the sailors aboard. Newman was discharged in 1946 in Washington. Hs military honors included the American Area Campaign medal, the Good Conduct medal, and the World War II Victory medal.
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