Most of us would never guess the iconic face of Willy Wonka to be a former military veteran. However, Gene Wilder, the Waco kid, was drafted by the Army in 1956. He served under his given name, Jerome Silberman. Assigned to the Medical Corps, he trained at Fort Sam Houston. After a psychiatry assignment at Valley Forge, he was honorably discharged in 1958 and shortly thereafter begin calling himself Gene Wilder.