Editing Jason Robards (section)

=== Naval service ===
Following the completion of recruit training and radio school, Robards was assigned to the [[heavy cruiser]] {{USS|Northampton|CA-26|6}} in 1941 as a [[Radioman|radioman 3rd class]].<ref name="Robards, Jason Nelson, Jr., RM1c">{{cite web|url=https://navy.togetherweserved.com/usn/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApps?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=6306|title=Robards, Jason Nelson, Jr., RM1c|publisher=Together We Served|access-date=March 18, 2018}}</ref> On [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|December 7, 1941]], ''Northampton'' was at sea in the Pacific Ocean about {{convert|100|mi|km}} off Hawaii. Contrary to some stories, he did not see the devastation of the Japanese attack on Hawaii until ''Northampton'' returned to [[Pearl Harbor]] two days later.<ref>Bloomfield, Gary L.; Shain, Stacie L., with Davidson, Arlen C., (2004). ''Duty, Honor, Applause – America's Entertainers in World War II''. p. 264. [[Lyon's Press]], [[Guilford, Connecticut|Guilford]], Connecticut. {{ISBN|1-59228-550-3}}</ref> ''Northampton'' was later directed into the [[Battle of Guadalcanal|Guadalcanal campaign]] in [[Pacific Ocean theater of World War II|World War II's Pacific theater]], where she participated in the [[Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands]].<ref name="Robards, Jason Nelson, Jr., RM1c"/>

During the [[Battle of Tassafaronga]] in the waters north of Guadalcanal on the night of November 30, 1942, ''Northampton'' was sunk by hits from two Japanese [[torpedo]]es. Robards found himself treading water until near daybreak, when he was rescued by an American [[destroyer]]. For its service in the war, ''Northampton'' was awarded six battle stars.{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}} Two years later, in November 1944, Robards was radioman aboard the [[light cruiser]] {{USS|Nashville|CL-43|6}}, the [[flagship]] for the [[Battle of Mindoro|invasion of Mindoro]] in the northern [[Philippines]]. On December 13, she was struck by a [[kamikaze]] aircraft off [[Negros Island]] in the Philippines. The aircraft hit one of the port five-inch gun mounts, while the plane's two bombs set the midsection of the ship ablaze. With this damage and 223 casualties, ''Nashville'' was forced to return to Pearl Harbor and then to the [[Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility|Puget Sound Naval Shipyard]] in [[Bremerton, Washington]], for repairs.{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}}

Robards served honorably during the war, but was not a recipient of the U.S. [[Navy Cross]],<ref name=NavyNC>{{cite web |url=https://valor.defense.gov/Portals/24/Navy%20-%20Navy%20Cross%20List%20-%202021%2002%2002.pdf?ver=d2g_29o48C-uP_kGnci3kg%3d%3d |title=(U.S. Navy) Navy Cross Recipients, World War II, 1941-1945 |date=2021-02-02 |publisher=[[U.S. Department of Defense]] |access-date=2022-06-30}}</ref><ref>Sterner, C. Douglas. ''Index: Recipients of the Navy Cross, All Wars/All Periods, All Branches of Service''. Pueblo CO, 2006</ref> contrary to what has been reported in numerous sources. The inaccurate story derives from a 1979 column by [[Hy Gardner]].<ref>Gardner, Hy. ''Panorama'' magazine, Vol. II, No. 1, Sunday ''Daily Herald'', January 7, 1979, p. 2</ref> Aboard ''Nashville'', Robards first found a copy of Eugene O'Neill's play ''[[Strange Interlude]]'' in the ship's library.<ref name="ReferenceA">''[[The New York Times Magazine]]'', January 20, 1974</ref><ref name="Shaughnessy">Black, Steven A., ''et al.'' (editors) (2002). ''Jason Robards Remembered – Essays and Recollections''. [[McFarland & Co.]], [[Jefferson, North Carolina|Jefferson]], North Carolina. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-1356-0}}.</ref> Also while in the Navy, he first started thinking seriously about becoming an actor. He had [[Master of Ceremonies|emceed]] for a Navy band in Pearl Harbor, got a few laughs, and decided he liked it. His father suggested he enroll in the [[American Academy of Dramatic Arts]] (AADA) in New York City, from which he graduated in 1948.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aada.edu/notable-alumni#decade:1930_1950/orderby:all/display:panel|title=Notable Alumni |website=The American Academy of Dramatic Arts}}</ref> Robards left the Navy in 1946 as a [[Petty officer first class]]. He was awarded the [[Good Conduct Medal (United States)#Navy Good Conduct Medal|Good Conduct Medal]] of the Navy, the [[American Defense Service Medal]], the [[American Campaign Medal]], the [[Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal]], and the [[World War II Victory Medal (United States)|World War II Victory Medal]].{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}