# Bakers Dozen **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [August 4, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173 "2010-08-04T17:56:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 470
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/9382 "2012-01-13T22:02:02Z")
Famous Word War II Veterans (other than those famous for military service) 1. Charles Durning 2. James Doohan 3. Kurt Vonnegut 4. JFK 5. Yogi Berra 6. Leon Askin Character actor most famous for playing [General Burkhalter](http://www.wearysloth.com/Gallery/ActorsA/tve636-19660415-156.gif) on _Hogan’s Heroes_, though he was also on every other sitcom. IRL he was a Vienna born Jewish cabaret performer in the '30s who fled the Nazis and joined the U.S. army, where he became a [Sgt.](http://hofbrau.freeservers.com/images/askin_army.jpg) by the end of the war. (In spite of his obesity he lived into his late 90s and his last decade was among the busiest in his life.) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/9383 "2012-01-14T01:46:17Z")
Famous Word War II Veterans (other than those famous for military service) 1. Charles Durning 2. James Doohan 3. Kurt Vonnegut 4. JFK 5. Yogi Berra 6. Leon Askin 7. Mel Brooks ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/9384 "2012-01-14T04:33:03Z")
Huh. Wiki says that Mel Brooks, as an Army corporal, took part in the Battle of the Bulge. I did not know that. Famous Word War II Veterans (other than those famous for military service) 1. Charles Durning 2. James Doohan 3. Kurt Vonnegut 4. JFK 5. Yogi Berra 6. Leon Askin 7. Mel Brooks 8. Jimmy Stewart Highly-decorated U.S. Army Air Corps pilot. Helluva guy: [James Stewart - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Stewart#Military_service) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/9385 "2012-01-14T06:26:17Z")
Famous Word War II Veterans (other than those famous for military service) 1. Charles Durning 2. James Doohan 3. Kurt Vonnegut 4. JFK 5. Yogi Berra 6. Leon Askin 7. Mel Brooks 8. Jimmy Stewart 9. Hugh Hefner ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/9386 "2012-01-14T06:37:42Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Huh. Wiki says that Mel Brooks, as an Army corporal, took part in the Battle of the Bulge. I did not know that. From what I’ve heard, it depends on how loosely you define the terms. The German attack was a surprise against an undermanned section of the American front (which was the whole point of the German plan). Brooks was not stationed in that area at the time of the attack. Once the Germans broke through the American line, reinforcements were rushed in to contain the Germans and beat them back. Brooks’ unit was one of these sent in as reinforcements. But by the time his unit arrived at the region, the Germans were already falling back in defeat and his unit never saw any significant combat in the battle. So give Brooks credit (on a trivia note, he was still using the name Kaminsky at this point) - he served in the European combat theatre during the war and is indisputably a WWII veteran. But while he was in the vicinity of the Battle of the Bulge, he wasn’t really in it. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/9387 "2012-01-14T19:24:13Z")
Famous Word War II Veterans (other than those famous for military service) 1. Charles Durning 2. James Doohan 3. Kurt Vonnegut 4. JFK 5. Yogi Berra 6. Leon Askin 7. Mel Brooks 8. Jimmy Stewart 9. Hugh Hefner 10. Lee Marvin Severely wounded at Sai-Pan. ---
**Author:** ![candide](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/46a35a/32.png) [@candide](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/candide)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/9388 "2012-01-14T19:42:38Z")
Famous Word War II Veterans (other than those famous for military service) 1. Charles Durning 2. James Doohan 3. Kurt Vonnegut 4. JFK 5. Yogi Berra 6. Leon Askin 7. Mel Brooks 8. Jimmy Stewart 9. Hugh Hefner 10. Lee Marvin 11. George Kennedy ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/9389 "2012-01-14T19:46:26Z")
Famous Word War II Veterans (other than those famous for military service) 1. Charles Durning 2. James Doohan 3. Kurt Vonnegut 4. JFK 5. Yogi Berra 6. Leon Askin 7. Mel Brooks 8. Jimmy Stewart 9. Hugh Hefner 10. Lee Marvin 11. George Kennedy 12. Ted Williams ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/9390 "2012-01-14T19:54:12Z")
Famous World War II Veterans (other than those famous for military service) 1. Charles Durning 2. James Doohan 3. Kurt Vonnegut 4. JFK 5. Yogi Berra 6. Leon Askin 7. Mel Brooks 8. Jimmy Stewart 9. Hugh Hefner 10. Lee Marvin 11. George Kennedy 12. Ted Williams 13. Christopher Lee New category: Astronauts/cosmonauts/taikonauts 1. Yuri Gagarin Appropriately first ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/9391 "2012-01-14T20:06:18Z")
New category: Astronauts/cosmonauts/taikonauts 1. Yuri Gagarin 2. Jim Lovell I’m seeing him speak on Monday. ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/9392 "2012-01-14T22:36:56Z")
Astronauts/cosmonauts/taikonauts 1. Yuri Gagarin 2. Jim Lovell 3. Neil Armstrong ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/9393 "2012-01-14T23:19:23Z")
Astronauts/cosmonauts/taikonauts 1. Yuri Gagarin 2. Jim Lovell 3. Neil Armstrong 4. Sally Ride ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/9394 "2012-01-14T23:45:09Z")
Astronauts/cosmonauts/taikonauts 1. Yuri Gagarin 2. Jim Lovell 3. Neil Armstrong 4. Sally Ride 5. Alan Shepard ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/9395 "2012-01-15T03:37:28Z")
Astronauts/cosmonauts/taikonauts 1. Yuri Gagarin 2. Jim Lovell 3. Neil Armstrong 4. Sally Ride 5. Alan Shepard 6. Mae Jemison Also had an appearance on _Star Trek: The Next Generation_: [Mae Jemison | Memory Alpha | Fandom](http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Mae_Jemison) ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/9396 "2012-01-15T03:47:50Z")
Astronauts/cosmonauts/taikonauts 1. Yuri Gagarin 2. Jim Lovell 3. Neil Armstrong 4. Sally Ride 5. Alan Shepard 6. Mae Jemison 7. Valentina Tereshkova ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/9397 "2012-01-15T04:35:48Z")
Astronauts/cosmonauts/taikonauts 1. Yuri Gagarin 2. Jim Lovell 3. Neil Armstrong 4. Sally Ride 5. Alan Shepard 6. Mae Jemison 7. Valentina Tereshkova 8. Yang Liwei ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/9398 "2012-01-15T23:34:40Z")
Astronauts/cosmonauts/taikonauts 1. Yuri Gagarin 2. Jim Lovell 3. Neil Armstrong 4. Sally Ride 5. Alan Shepard 6. Mae Jemison 7. Valentina Tereshkova 8. Yang Liwei 9. John Glenn ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/9399 "2012-01-16T01:35:46Z")
Astronauts/cosmonauts/taikonauts 1. Yuri Gagarin 2. Jim Lovell 3. Neil Armstrong 4. Sally Ride 5. Alan Shepard 6. Mae Jemison 7. Valentina Tereshkova 8. Yang Liwei 9. John Glenn 10. Sergei Krikalev Holds the record for the most time in space - 803 days. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/9400 "2012-01-16T02:41:08Z")
Astronauts/cosmonauts/taikonauts 1. Yuri Gagarin 2. Jim Lovell 3. Neil Armstrong 4. Sally Ride 5. Alan Shepard 6. Mae Jemison 7. Valentina Tereshkova 8. Yang Liwei 9. John Glenn 10. Sergei Krikalev 11. Alexey Leonov A friend of Arthur C. Clarke, who named the Soviet spacecraft in _2010: Odyssey Two_ after him. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/9401 "2012-01-16T02:45:14Z")
Astronauts/cosmonauts/taikonauts 1. Yuri Gagarin 2. Jim Lovell 3. Neil Armstrong 4. Sally Ride 5. Alan Shepard 6. Mae Jemison 7. Valentina Tereshkova 8. Yang Liwei 9. John Glenn 10. Sergei Krikalev 11. Alexey Leonov 12. John Young [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173.md?page=469) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173.md?page=471)