Marines Facts

Sergeant Reckless was a Mongolian mare bought for $250 by US Marines in 1952. During one day of battle in 1953, she made 51 solo trips hauling ammunition to the front lines, covering over 35 miles under fire. She was formally promoted to Staff Sergeant by the Commandant of the Marine Corps - with a 1,700-Marine parade in her honor.

Diane Hendricks handcrafted a Raggedy Ann doll and asked her husband Bill - a Marine Corps Reserve major in Los Angeles - to find an organization that could give it to a child in need. No such organization existed. So he started one. By Christmas, his Marine unit had collected 5,000 toys. Toys for Tots has since delivered over 708 million toys to 314 million children.

Shaggy's growling singing voice wasn't natural - he built it mocking his Marine Corps drill instructors to make his platoon laugh. Sergeants started calling him forward to lead cadences. The growl stuck. He served four years as a cannon crewman and deployed to the Gulf War in 1991. "I got this voice by mocking drill instructors in the military."

Peter Cullen almost voiced Optimus Prime like a shouting Hollywood tough guy. His brother Larry was a Marine Corps captain who served in Vietnam. Cullen has said that before his 1984 audition, Larry told him real heroes don't yell: "Be strong enough to be gentle." That advice became Optimus Prime's voice for more than 40 years.