Donald Duck present in work The Three Caballeros
Donald Gets Drafted (May 1, 1942) (shown in his Selective Service Draft Card close-up, we learn Donald's full name: Donald Fauntleroy Duck)
The Vanishing Private (September 25, 1942)
Sky Trooper (November 8, 1942)
Fall Out Fall In (April 23, 1943)
The Old Army Game (November 5, 1943)
Commando Duck (June 2, 1944)Thanks in part to these films, Donald graced the nose artwork of virtually every type of World War II Allied combat aircraft, from the L-4 Grasshopper to the B-29 Superfortress.Donald also appears as a mascot—such as in the United States Army Air Forces' 309th Fighter Squadron and the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, which showed Donald as a fierce-looking pirate ready to defend the American coast from invaders. Donald also appeared as a mascot emblem for the 415th Fighter Squadron; 438th Fighter Squadron; 479th Bombardment Squadron; and 531st Bombardment Squadron. He also appeared as the mascot for the Fire Department at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, as well as the Army Air Forces (now currently the United States Air Force) 319 Aircraft Maintenance Unit at Luke Air Force Base — where he is seen wearing an old-style pilot's uniform with a board with a nail in it in one hand, and a lightning bolt in the other hand. Donald's most famous appearance, however, was on the North American Aviation B-25B Mitchell medium bomber (S/N 40-2261) piloted by Lt. Ted W. Lawson of the 95th Bombardment Squadron, USAAF. The aircraft, named the "Ruptured Duck" and carrying a picture of Donald's face above a pair of crossed crutches, was one of sixteen B-25Bs which took off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet to bomb Tokyo on April 18, 1942, during the Doolittle Raid. The mission was led by Lieutenant Colonel (later General) Jimmy Doolittle. Like most of the aircraft that participated in the mission, the Ruptured Duck was unable to reach its assigned landing field in China following the raid and ended up ditching off the coast near Shangchow, China. The Ruptured Duck's pilot survived, with the loss of a leg, and later wrote about the Doolittle Raid in the book, later to be the 1944 movie, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo.
During World War II, Disney cartoons were not allowed to be imported into Occupied Europe owing to their propagandistic content. Since this lost Disney revenue, he decided to create a new audience for his films in South America. He decided to make a trip through various Latin American countries with his assistants, and use their experiences and impressions to create two feature-length animation films. The first was Saludos Amigos (1942), which consisted of four short segments, two of them with Donald Duck. In the first, he meets his parrot pal José Carioca. The second film was The Three Caballeros (1944), in which he meets his rooster friend Panchito.
Several decades after the war, on account of the fact that Donald was never officially separated from service in either his animated shorts or his comic strips, as part of Donald's 50th Birthday celebrations during the 25th Annual Torrance, California Armed Forces Day Parade, the U.S. Army retired Donald Duck from active duty as a "Buck Sergeant" (i.e. "Buck Sergeant Duck").Disney theme parks
Donald Duck has played a major role in many Disney theme parks over the years. He has actually been seen in more attractions and shows at the parks than Mickey Mouse has. He has appeared over the years in such attractions as Animagique, Mickey Mouse Revue, Mickey's PhilharMagic, Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years, Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros and the updated version of "It's a Small World". He also is seen in the parks as a meet-and-greet character.
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