Paul Newman, having enlisted days before his 18th birthday, was called up for service in the Navy.
Newman wanted to be a pilot, but was taken out of flight school when it was discovered he was color blind. He went on to be a torpedo bomber crewman.
Sarah Sundin noted Newman's enlistment, but also noted the A36:
Today in World War II History—June 6, 1943: North American A-36 Apache flies first combat mission in a US Twelfth Air Force mission to Pantelleria. Future actor Paul Newman enlists in the US Navy, age 18.
We don't think much of the A-36, the dive bomber version of the P-51. The odd aircraft only came into existence in the first place as the 1942 appropriations for new fighter aircraft had run out and converting the assembly line to dive bombers kept the P-51 line open. Only 500 were built, with most used by the U.S. Army Air Force, but some used by the RAF.
A-36 in Italy.
