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Line 41: Knotts served in the army from June 21, 1943, to January 6, 1946, in the Army's [[Special Services (entertainment)|6817th Special Services Battalion]].<ref name="togetherweserved">[https://army.togetherweserved.com/army/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=SBVTimeLine&type=Person&ID=24171 T/5 Don Knotts - Military Timeline] army.togetherweserved.com. Retrieved August 11, 2021.</ref> He was discharged at the rank of [[Technician fifth grade|Technician Grade 5]], equivalent at the time to [[corporal]].<ref name="togetherweserved"/> During his service, he was awarded the [[World War II Victory Medal (United States)|World War II Victory Medal]], the [[Philippine Liberation Medal]], the [[Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal]] (with four bronze [[service star]]s), the [[American Campaign Medal]], the [[Good Conduct Medal (United States)|Army Good Conduct Medal]], the Army [[Marksmanship badges (United States)|Marksman Badge]] (with an [[M1 Carbine]]) and the [[Honorable Service Lapel Button|Honorable Service Lapel Pin]].{{r|don|p=18}}<ref name="togetherweserved"/> After being demobilized, Knotts returned to West Virginia University and graduated in 1948. He married Kay Metz and moved back to New York, where connections that he had made in the Special Services Branch helped him to break into show business. In addition to doing stand-up comedy at clubs, he appeared on radio, eventually playing the wisecracking, know-it-all character "Windy Wales" on a radio Western called ''[[Bobby Benson and the B-Bar-B Riders Knotts got his first break on television on the soap opera ''[[Search for Tomorrow]],'' where he appeared from 1953 to 1955. He came to fame in 1956 on [[Steve Allen]]'s variety show as part of Allen's repertory company, most notably in Allen's mock "Man in the Street" interviews, always playing an extremely nervous man. He remained with Allen through the 1959–1960 season. | |||