In 1944, a teenage comedian Mel Brooks was drafted by the U.S. Army and sent off to fight in World War II, where he served as a combat engineer and a corporal, and participated in the Battle of the Bulge. Despite the chaos and brutality of the war, Brooks remained his trademark sense of humor throughout his ordeal. He used this humor to bring down Adolf Hitler and his Nazi enemies, with a rendition of Al Jolson's 1922 song "Toot, Toot, Sunde", which he used to play. Following his discharge from the Army in 1946, Brooks continued to take aim at Hitler for many years, often in song form.