The fabulous Bridges boys honored with â??Lone Sailorâ?? award 2011

We always feel like weâ??ve stumbled into a secret society meeting at the Lone Sailor Awards. Turns out all these big-deal civilians, these guys in business suits or tuxes, have a shared past â?? as swabbies!

The gala, hosted by the U.S. Navy Memorial, honors veterans of the sea services for their achievements in later life â?? among them, in recent years, Arnold Palmer, Yogi Berra, Bill Cosby . On Thursday night, it was C-SPAN founder Brian Lamb, baseball greats Jerry Coleman and the late Bob Feller, and a family group that you probably never guessed did time with the Coast Guard: The Bridges of Hollywood.

Now, Lloyd, you can totally picture in the service â?? â??Sea Hunt,â?? remember? But Jeff and Beau â?? those rakishly Fabulous Baker Boys? The Dude? Really, who knew?

Bridges père left a job with Columbia Picturesâ?? stock players to join up at the start ot World War II. But it had to be unusual for showbiz kids to enlist in the â??60s, no?

Not at all, Beau told us. Kennedy had just put up the blockade on Cuba. â??I thought we were going to warâ?? he said, and he wanted to help protect his country. He explained further in his speech: â??My father said, â??Maybe you should enlist â?? pick your service.â?? I picked the Coast Guard.â??

The actor, accepting on behalf of his late father and his younger Oscar-winning brother (off working on his sideline as a country singer these days), did eight years, including time in the reserves; on the USCGC Dexter he was both a cook and editor of the shipâ??s newspaper.

â??The preparation has lasted me a lifetime,â?? he said. â??The idea of being part of a company, of respecting your mates, of attention to detail.â??

Beau Bridges is the son of actor Lloyd Bridges and his wife, who was his college sweetheart, Dorothy Dean Bridges. Born just two days after the attack on Pearl Harbour, he was delivered by candlelight because of a power blackout. Named Lloyd Vernet Bridges III, his parents immediately started calling him Beau after Ashley Wilkes' son in Gone with the Wind (1939), a book they were reading at the time. His younger brother, actor Jeff Bridges, was born in 1949 and a sister, Cindy Bridges, the following year.

Although only 5'10", Beau played basketball for UCLA his freshman year. The following year he transferred to the University of Hawaii, but dropped out to pursue acting and got his first major role in 1967. During his first marriage to Julie Landifield, they adopted Casey Bridges and then had Jordan Bridges. He and his second wife, Wendy Treece Bridges, have three children from this marriage: Dylan Bridges (born 1985); Emily Bridges, (born 1987) and Ezekiel Jeffry Bridges.

Beau likes to play guitar and collects Native American percussion instruments. He also loves the ocean, including swimming and surfing. He is also active in environmental causes and handgun control.