82 years ago today, June 6, 1944, James M. Doohan of Vancouver, led D Company of Royal Winnipeg Rifles ashore at Juno beach. He would be shot 6 times, survive and go on to become Scotty on Star Trek.
Jun 7, 2026, 10:28 AM
Jun 7, 2026, 10:46 AM@MarkHoltom
He left a finger on Juno Beach, the tough bastard.
Jun 7, 2026, 11:42 AMBe like Scotty. Fight fascism.
Thanks, Scotty, for your service. Being antifascist still requires a lot of work.
@MarkHoltom
Among his many other accomplishments, he was a hot pilot.
From Wikipedia:
Doohan graduated from Air Observation Pilot Course 40 with eleven other Canadian artillery officers[ and flew Taylorcraft Auster Mark V aircraft for 666 (AOP) Squadron, RCAF as a Royal Canadian Artillery officer in support of 1st Army Group Royal Canadian Artillery. (1)
@MarkHoltom
(2)
All three Canadian (AOP) RCAF squadrons were crewed by artillery officer-pilots and accompanied by non-commissioned RCA and RCAF personnel serving as observers. Although he was never actually a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force, Doohan was once labelled the "craziest pilot in the Canadian Air Force"
@MarkHoltom
(3)
In the late spring of 1945, on Salisbury Plain north of RAF Andover, he slalomed a plane between telegraph poles "to prove it could be done", earning himself a serious reprimand. (Various accounts cite the plane as a Hurricane or a jet trainer; however, it was an Auster Mark IV.)
@MarkHoltom I did wonder about his accent - must be Winnipeg Scots
@ASprinkleofSage He did accents. I met him once, and he did a few different ones he'd learned.
@MarkHoltom Scotty was ANTIFA!! YAY!
@MarkHoltom When ordered to disembark his vessel for the beach, he yelled "Cap'n, I've got ta have five minutes!"
#StarTrek
@Nonya_Bidniss @MarkHoltom "ma engines cap'n, they willn nae take it"
I had no idea; thanks for that!
Jun 7, 2026, 3:55 PM@MarkHoltom
Maybe that explains the line: "The only good diplomacy is a fully charged phaser." 😆
Still, thanks for this!
Jun 7, 2026, 9:57 PM@MarkHoltom @kbsez lost a finger in the war, which he mostly successfully hid on Trek by having hands behind his back or shot from angles where it wasn’t obvious.
Fucking legend.
- They battled my grandparents generation and thank god they won!
- They conquered my parent's generation with swing and later on Rock'n Roll!
- The freed my generation and gave us peace till now!
Thank you, James M. Doohan
Hello Nazis!
@MarkHoltom Movie trivia that involves this man:
The 1980 ZAZ comedy 'Airplane!' is a nearly shot-for-shot remake of the thriller 'Zero Hour!' (1957). But 'Zero Hour!' itself is a remake:
The year before, James Doohan starred as George Spencer (the Ted Stryker character in later versions) in the ORIGINAL original, 'Flight into Danger' -- a CBC teleplay that they've confirmed they still have in their vault, but no plans to release.
