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40 Insights into the Lives of Famous War Veterans

Khalid Elhassan July 13, 2019 26 min

15. Comedian Lenny Bruce fought in the US Navy in WWII

Lenny Bruce, getting arrested for obscenity. ThoughtCo

Lenny Bruce (1925 -1966) popularized edgy comic routines that combined satire, politics, religion, sex, and vulgarity. Growing up, he saw little of his father, but was strongly influenced by his mother, a stage performer. He eventually became a poster boy for freedom of speech after prosecutors persecuted him with obscenity charges, of which he was convicted in 1964. But before his meteoric comic career, Lenny Bruce had served his country in WWII.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.