You may be surprised to learn that some of your favorite celebrities--from Ice-T to Rob Riggle--served our country in the military. They fought in the Battle of the Bulge, Vietnam and Afghanistan, among other places. Bankrate.com collected the details. We salute these nine veterans who returned home from active duty to find jobs in television, movies and music.

1. Mel Brooks
Military service: Army corporal during World War II where he took part in the Battle of the Bulge.

2. Dennis Franz
Military service: Drafted into the U.S. Army after college, he served for 11 months in Vietnam.

3. Gene Hackman
Military service: Served in the Marine Corps as a field radio operator, as well as a disc jockey for the Armed Forces network.

4. Ice-T
Military service: Served four years in the Army's 25th Infantry Division.

5. Harvey Keitel
Military service: Joined the Marine Corps when he was 17 and served in Lebanon during Operation Blue Bat in 1958.

6. Chuck Norris
Military service: Served in the U.S. Air Force and while stationed in Korea he trained in Tang Soo Do and later created his own form of martial arts called Chun Kuk Do.

7. Rob Riggle
Military service: He served as a lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps with tours of duty in Kosovo and Afghanistan.

8. Tom Selleck
Military service: In addition to serving in Vietnam, he was a soldier in the California Army National Guard and was called to duty during the 1965 Watts riots.

9. Montel Williams
Military service: Enlisted in the Marine Corps after high school graduation and later served in the Navy for 22 years, leaving with the rank of lieutenant.

To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Purple Heart medal given to honor U.S. troops killed or wounded in action, an artist mowed an 850,000-square-foot rendering of the medal into a park field in August 2007. It measures more than 1,000 feet long!