He is known for his successful acting and directing careers, but another thing that Clint Eastwood has surprisingly done is actually teaching soldiers how to swim.
During a recent interview with Monterey Herald, Clint Eastwood revealed that he convinced several older soldiers to hire him and another rookie soldier, who just finished basic training, to teach other soldiers how to swim. He recalled working alongside the soldier for a couple of weeks before the soldier was deployed to Korea. “All of a sudden, he got shipped out. You never know how they pick people that are shipped out in those days. It was classified.”
However, Clint Eastwood said that he was one of the few that didn’t get randomly deployed. “My friend got sent out, but I didn’t. I never could figure out why that was,” he explained. The actor then said he spent the remainder of his service running the pool as well as teaching and saving people from drowning.
Clint Eastwood most of his time at the pool. The actor convinced the company commander to allow him to move to a little room on the side of the pool. That way, he could take care and watch over the pool. “While everybody else was getting up at five in the morning, in the cold air, I was sleeping. I didn’t have classes until about 10 or 11 o’clock or whatever they were that day. It was a good life for me.”
Eastwood went on to add that many soldiers knew how to swim. However, they decided to fake drowning. “It was kind of funny because everybody was trying to fake that they couldn’t swim. They all wanted to stay there and have lessons then go out in the field and run with the other guys carrying rifles.”
Teaching Swim Lessons Saved Clint Eastwood From Having to Be Deployed to Korea
While continuing his chat with the media outlet, Clint Eastwood stated that he lucked out in teaching swim lessons. Because the role kept him from being deployed to Korea. “It saved me from going to Korea. Which was important in those days. I was a great, great gig. A lot of fun. I actually became an actor because guys like Richard Long, Martin Miller, and David Janssen that were all drafted. The guys became my friends.”
Clint Eastwood went on to credit Long, Miller, and Janssen for convincing him to go to Los Angeles City College instead of going to college in Stockton. “I followed their careers. It drew me down to LA and started off my career. It all started there at the pool.”
Clint Eastwood served in the U.S. Army after being drafted for the Korean War. Along with teaching swim lessons, Eastwood was reportedly a passenger on the Douglas AD Bomber. After the aircraft ran out of fuel and crashed into the ocean near Point Reyes, he and the pilot swam two miles to safety using a life raft.