Seven Famous Authors You May Not Have Known Were Military Veterans
Happy Veterans Day!
Tomorrow is Veterans Day in the United States (Remembrance Day in the U.K. and Commonwealth countries), a day when I try to do nothing except gobble up as many free meals as I can from every restaurant that offers them. I usually start with the free donut from Krispy Kreme because nothing says thank you for giving up four years of your life quite like a single donut. I will gorge myself all day while lamenting the fact that if I had just stayed in the Army I would either be dead or retired now, with either option being preferable to my current state.
Something else I have done for the past few years is write a story about my comrades-in-arms (from whatever generation) who were also successful in the Arts after their service. It started with a piece on Steve McQueen (the King of Cool) and last year focused on musicians who served. This year, I want to celebrate Veterans Day by highlighting authors you may not know served in the military.
The list of such authors is far longer than you might expect, especially from the First and Second World Wars. It would literally take a book to include everyone and thus I have left off some of the more obvious authors like Kurt Vonnegut (Slaughterhouse-Five) and Joseph Heller (Catch-22). Also, while Ernest…
