We bet you didn't know that one of the greatest jazz saxophonists of all time enlisted during World War II. John Coltrane signed up for the United States Navy (he was desperately trying to avoid the US Army draft) on 6 August 1945 - the same day that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Japan. By the time he finished his training and arrived in Pearl Harbor, navy activity was already being massively scaled back.
What nobody knew was that Coltrane would refine his talent as a musician while serving as an apprentice seaman. He entertained other troops in the Melody Masters, the Navy base's swing band. In fact, it was in Hawaii alongside other Navy musicians that Coltrane made his very first recordings. When he was discharged and had returned home to Philadelphia he began playing saxophone professionally.