John Wayne, World War II and the Draft
by Dan GagliassoJohn Wayne has been on people’s minds lately. Dick Cavett recently wrote a nostalgic New York Times piece about his lone meeting with Hollywood’s “Duke.” He also told of the meeting on the Dennis Miller Show. Meanwhile, liberal author Gary Wills, presumably an expert because of his 1992 book John Wayne’s America; the Politics of Celebrity, was on another radio show loudly exhorting Wayne as a draft dodger during World War II. Oh, the hypocrisy of it all, Wills went on with glee that America’s biggest media patriot had shirked service during one of the nation’s most trying times. Perhaps Cavett and Wills were both reacting to last years Harris Poll where amazingly Wayne was still ranked third amongst America’s favorite male film stars. Wayne is the only deceased actor on the list and the only one to have appeared in the top ten every year since the poll was started in 1994, despite the fact that he died in 1979.
Wayne once said, “It’s kind of sad when normal love of country makes you a super patriot.” That kind of honest sentiment that came across on film has helped the “Duke” maintain such a revered place in so many American hearts and minds.
The charges of Wayne being a “draft dodger” are not new and with a simple Google search one can find any number of far left types absolutely blowing their “peace and love” credentials over Wayne and his lack of service in World War II. The truth is far more complex and even “hidden in plain sight” than one would think.
Upon graduating from Glendale High School in 1925, Wayne applied to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, hoping to live out his dream of being a career Naval officer. He came close but was instead chosen the first alternate candidate.
By the start of World War II Wayne had been suffering for years from a badly torn shoulder muscle incurred in a body surfing accident that cost him his football scholarship at USC in 1927. He also had a bad back from performing his own stunts during ten years acting in “B” Westerns. Moreover, he suffered from a chronic ear infection, resulting from hours of underwater filming on Cecil B. De Mille’s Reap the Wild Wind in 1941. Had Wayne actually undergone a pre-induction physical, he might indeed have been classified 4-F.
According to Randy Roberts and James Olson’s top notch John Wayne American, as a married but separated father of four and thirty-four years old in 1942 Wayne was classified by the Selective Service as 3-A (deferred for family dependency). In 1944 as the U.S. Military feared a manpower shortage he was reclassified 1-A (draft eligible). There is no record that he disputed this reclassification but his employer, Republic Studios, did and requested he be given a 2-A classification (deferred in the national interest, i.e., war bond drives, visiting the troops, etc.). Selective Service records for World War II are spotty at best, many having been destroyed, but surviving records indicate these claims were filed “by another,” i.e. Republic Studio’s legal department. In fact, a letter from Republic Studios head Herbert Yates threatened to sue Wayne for breach of contract should he leave the studio for volunteer military service, though it is doubtful he would have carried through with the threat. But Wayne was indeed Republic’s biggest moneymaker during the war and that studio’s only “A” star at the time.
Yet, according to director John Ford’s grandson, in 1943 John Wayne tried to get a commission in the Marine Corps and get attached to Ford’s O.S.S. (the forerunner of the C.I.A.) Field Photographic Unit. In Pappy; the Life of John Ford, Dan Ford says emphatically “…that the billets were frozen in 1943. John (Ford) couldn’t get Wayne in as an enlisted man, much less an officer.”
For Duke; the Life and Image of John Wayne Ron Davis interviewed over seventy Wayne intimates including Jimmy Stewart, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Harry Carry Jr., Robert Stack and Gene Autry, who all served during World War II. He never noted criticism of Wayne on the draft issue from any of them.
There is a letter from Wayne to Ford in May of 1942 in the John Ford Papers at Indiana State University quoted by Davis in which Wayne practically begs his mentor to find a way for him to join up: “Have you any suggestions on how I should get in? Can you get me assigned to your outfit, and if you could, would you want me? How about the Marines? You have Army and Navy men under you. Have you any Marines or how about a Seabee or what would you suggest or would you? No I’m not drunk. I just hate to ask for favors, but for Christ sake you can suggest can’t you? No kidding, coach who’ll I see.” No response by Ford has yet surfaced but these don’t sound like the words of a man shirking his duty. Wayne’s sometimes secretary at Republic, Catalina Lawrence, remembered writing letters to various military officials inquiring about possible service during this time period.
There has always been a suspicion that Ford refused to intercede on Wayne‘s behalf because he knew that with so many other male “A” stars in uniform that his friend would have an excellent chance of becoming a major star. Also, as great a director as Ford was he could often display a manipulative and sadistic side a mile wide. He might have refused to help in order to have something that he knew was important to the actor over Wayne’s head for the rest of his life.
Ford’s Field Photo Unit was no rear echelon cakewalk either, composed mainly of cameramen, sound men and editors with Ford as the boss. They were often right in the thick of things as they were on June 4, 1942 at the decisive naval battle at Midway where Ford himself was wounded by shrapnel. Two of Ford’s cameramen were killed during the war, Junius Stout and Arthur Meehan, both sons of well-known Hollywood cinematographers.
By 1943, with officer’s slots all filled, the only way Wayne could have gone into the service was as an army private; he had waited too long. Years later Wayne told Dan Ford that as a private, “I felt it would be a waste of time to spend two years picking up cigarette butts. I thought I could do more for the war effort by staying in Hollywood.” Almost all of the stars who served went in the armed forces knowing they would receive officer’s commissions. Most stars in the service found they were relegated to public relations duties out of harm’s way strictly for morale reasons. Adolph Hitler, a huge Clark Gable fan, reportedly put a bounty out for Gable’s capture Both Gable and Jimmy Stewart managed to cajole their way into combat, Gable in charge of a film crew aboard a B-17 and replacing wounded gunners more than once and Stewart flying twenty combat missions as the pilot of a B-24.
In 1993 Dan Ford, a decorated Vietnam combat officer, told Wayne biographer Davis, “It must have weighed heavily on him which way to go. But here was his chance and he knew it. He was an action leading man, there were a lot of roles for him to play. There was a lot of work in ”A” movies, and this was a guy who had made eighty “B” movies. He had finally moved up to the first rank. He was in the right spot at the right time with the right qualities and willing to work hard. Would I have done any different? The answer is hell no.”
[click image to enlarge]
Then in 2003 the above document surfaced in a National Archives traveling exhibit that at the time stirred no great interest — John Wayne’s application to the O.S.S. On page twenty-three in a Los Angeles Times Magazine article dated September 21, 2003 Coming Soon: Living History On Exhibit are photos of two pages of at least twelve of Wayne’s August 2, 1943 application SA-1, page eleven marked in red pencil at the top “22087.” There is no doubt it is Wayne, he uses his birth name of Marion Robert Morrison, his middle name being changed to Mitchell after the birth of his younger brother Robert and his next of kin is listed as his then estranged wife Josephine Morrison with Mrs. John Wayne in parenthesis. Here for the first time is the first hard evidence that Wayne volunteered for potentially dangerous service with the equivalent of today’s C.I.A., and the papers are not out of someone’s attic, but official government documents. The only way Wayne’s application would have wound up in the National Archives is if it had actually been submitted to the O.S.S. The National Archives was created in 1934 to house and manage all federal records, including documents, photos and film, and now includes well over 4 billion items.
According to Roberts and Olson Wayne’s Republic Studios secretary remembered typing a letter in the spring of 1943 inquiring about openings in John Ford’s O.S.S. Photo Unit. A navy official responded in May that the navy and marine allotments for Ford’s unit were filled, but there was room for Wayne in the unit under the army’s allotment. Wayne secured the application and we now know he turned it in. Dan Ford recalled that Wayne told him he had been approved by O.S.S. commander William Donovan to join the Field Photographic Unit, but that the letter went to his estranged wife Josephine’s home and she never told him about it. The National Archives documents list her address as the same address as Wayne’s, the family home at 312 North Highland Avenue, Los Angeles. By the summer of 1943 Wayne had moved out and was staying at the famous Chateau Marmont Hotel on Sunset Boulevard, though he still visited his children at the Highland Avenue home. The dates and sequence of time seem to line up to support Wayne’s story, though additional information is needed to document the last part of the puzzle conclusively.
Wayne did do a USO tour in early 1944 in the Pacific and was asked by John Ford to keep his eyes out for O.S.S. commander William Donovan. The Pacific Theater commander General Douglas MacArthur was highly suspicious of the freewheeling O.S.S. and Donovan, who Ford was serving under, wanting to keep them from operating in his area of responsibility. Wayne is quoted in Dan Ford’s book that “I got to go places the average entertainer wouldn’t get to go… but I never did catch up with MacArthur. When I got back to the States I made my report, and they gave me a plaque saying I had served in the O.S.S. But it was a copperhead, something Jack (Ford) had set up. It didn’t mean anything.” When the certificate was sent to Ford’s home to give to Wayne, he didn’t even bother to pick it up and it remained amongst the director’s personal effects until his death.
That Wayne acknowledged that the recognition was meaningless, says a great deal, given the bloated egos of many actors, especially today, who are more than willing to exaggerate their own perceived accomplishments far beyond the credible. This also seems to raise doubt that there was any connection between Wayne’s O.S.S. application and the organization’s recognition of his “report” to William Donovan. If Wayne didn’t value the recognition in the first place, why bother to go through a formality to receive it.
On that same USO tour Wayne made it to dangerous combat zones where Japanese bombing runs and enemy infiltration occurred routinely. Not really a performer in the singing, dancing or comedy sense, mainly he just talked with regular grunt troops staying up drinking locally brewed “jungle juice” and swapping stories. He brought back vivid stories about these ordinary servicemen, “They’re where 130 degrees is a cool day, where they scrape flies off, where matches melt in their pockets and Jap daisy-cutter bombs take limbs off at the knee. What the guys down there need are letters and snap shots, cigars and lighters, phonograph needles and radios. They need the support and love of Americans back home.”
John Wayne was a patriot but not a hero, and he would have been the first to tell anyone that, though his courageous battle with cancer displayed the kind of understated heroics many could relate to. But if you watch some of Wayne’s best films his representation of a hero was certainly of great value and still has great value. He once explained the appeal of his image quite succinctly, “I define manhood simply; men should be tough, fair, and courageous, never petty, never looking for a fight, but never backing down from one.” So here’s one for the “Duke,” he may not have been a military hero, but we now have proof that he did actually volunteer for service in World War II.
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385 Comments
It's amazing how liberals see things in black and white when they choose to do so.
Then a being like Muhammad Ali (an idiot who cries about racism, then changes his name to honor a movement that's enslaved at least 20 million Africans) is celebrated for his actions during the Vietnam War.
A conservative is a draft-dodger, but a Muslim convert is just sticking to his guns … the liberal mind never ceases to amaze me,
My own dad was an American just like John Wayne and Ronald Reagan (whose own health problems kept him enlisted, but on studio duties making training films). He joined right up. Unfortunately, he was 34. He also had polio in both legs meaning he walked with a cane and leg braces. But my dad, and Wayne, and thousands of guys tried to get in to fight for their country and just didn't stand by and jaw against the war and the red, white, and blue.
And for anyone who thinks Wayne was a sissy, you obviously never did any stunt work.
i never liked john wayne, the actor, but had no problem with john wayne the man. but how many of today's gliterati have tried to join the military, and defend our counrty? we know about tillman, he left a big nfl contract to serve, where were the rest of them? huh? if you go to the air force museum in dayton ohio, they have a display of retired general jimmy sterwart. he was a pilot during the war, and flew bombing missions.
May John Wayne live forever in our memories and our hearts. May we pass down to our children his values and his love for our Republic.
Unlike the majority of actors today, he was a true American.
Papa Ray
Fascinating article. Thanks, Mr. Gagliasso, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's no great shock that liberals are hypocrites, but to label a man who volunteered for the OSS and who begged to get into the service in any capacity he could as a draft dodger is disgusting. I wish I could say I'm surprised by their actions, but unfortunately, I'm not.
it's amazing how bad Garry Wills is, for the literary reputation afforded him. On bad advice I bought his book about MacBeth, and found it as specious a piece of twaddle as one could wish, without the heuristic value that sometimes comes as compensation. Sad.
There was a time when personal courage or even mere physicality had nothing to do with political convictions. One thinks about American commies who fought in the Spanish Civil War or brawlers like Norman Mailer in that regard. But modern lefties are almost universally pussies. Forget joining the military. Cops. Firemen. Competitive athletes in the rougher sports. There may be plenty who vote Democrat, but they are not lefties – least of all the kind of leftist maggots who feel compelled to smear the likes of John Wayne. Deep down leftists know this – as they know the only masculinity in their ranks resides in the angry breasts of butch women – and it is why they fear us. When they prattle on about angry tea partiers, for instance, this is the subtext. They do fear us. As well they should, because a lot of us have had our fill of the effeminate whining and shrill political bullying of these ladyboys..
After WWII and Korea, many guys who had fought made their way to Hollywood and our entertainment venues. A very small partial list includes Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Paul Newman, Don Rickles, Joey Bishop, Burt Lancaster.
I have been wondering for some time now when the guys coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan are going to be recruited to restock our media ranks with men we can depend on to portray pro-American stories?
John Wayne is the version of a man I have presented to my children and will always be glad. To look at the girlie men of today, I can see there will never be another Duke!
Wayne was born in 1907 which made him 35 in 1942, not exactly a spring chicken. The armed forces were glad to take doctors or others with special skills at that age but what use would Wayne have been to them even if he were in better health?
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The problem is not if this with the Hollywood Left, The Duke stands at Number three on the list, hand his last movie was on the Big Screen in 1976, The Shootist. I saw it in Old Fort Worth, Texas in that year while in Flight School. That is 34 years ago, he pass on in 1979 that coming on 31 years ago. And he left a body of work that is second to none. Some how that is the thorn in the lefts side. Think about it, His last movie, he got the script for that one some times in either 71 or 72, made it and they released it in 76. Almost forty years. And its in my opinion one of his best. And he had many. Most actor would be happy with one or two great ones, he's got a good dozen and then some depending on who is talking. A simple man you loved his country and didn't like the path it was traveling on, if he had said nothing, none of this would be said. He could never sit by and not speak up. After all he was The Duke. And yea I am a fan and dam proud of it too. Now I think I will put She wore a Yellow Ribbon in the DVD and watch The Searchers this evening. And finish up with The Cowboys and True Grit, I named four with out even thinking about it how about that!
John Wayne… too much Testosterone and Americanism for the Twits and Ninnies of the Left.
Man did I make a few typo's on this one, sorry guys!
They don't make 'em like the Duke anymore. RIP
These wuss's who would comment about a man who has been dead for over 30 years and degrade him with essential baseless allegations of being a draft dodger show just what kind of spineless individuals they truly are. Being the son of a WW II vet, many times my father would talk about how the films produced starring John Wayne as well as the other prominent actors of the times helped to maintain morale during many difficult times while in combat. During the war, Hollywood had "real" men who, when called upon by their country, did whatever they could to advance the effort to defeat the enemy any way possible. Now we have the "new Hollywood" men , like Sean Penn that would rather swap spit with Chavez and Castro and play footsie with them under the table. Not all Hollywood men are weenies, but those in the mold of Wayne, Reagan, Stewart, and the many the others that have gone on before are fewer and farther between.
Wow. Fantastic article.
My father was a P51 pilot in the ETO from '43 on. He despised John Wayne, not merely because he believed that Wayne had dodged service during the war, but because he coupled that with Wayne's role in "The Green Berets" many years later. The contrast between a man that he believed had maneuvered to get out of WW2 combat with a role in a movie my father believed to be pro-Vietnam War propaganda disgusted him.
Thanks for writing a superb article, and providing references for further research. You've really cleared some things up for me.
Dont worry about the typo's , we all make them, It gives to trolls something tp point out and feel superior about. lol
You know the funny thing is until you mentioned i had not thought about how many John Wayne movies i could name without really thinking and i came up with 7. His last movie was made in 1976 or something like that. Now see how many movies you can name of todays male stars like Sean Penn or Brad Pitt.
And they wonder why the Duke stays on the list year after year. because you can remember his movies.
If you think Gary Will's take on Wayne are out to tea, you should read his take on the Civil War. He is so overrated as a historian and it is truly a shame so many college students are forced to read his twaddle. He will not be remembered well.
Great piece! I'm going to shove this column in the face of several lefties I know who have taunted me for years over John Wayne's "hypocrisy". Thank you!
I do not blame Wayne for not taking the an enlistment as a private.I do not blame Wayne for not taking the an enlistment as a private.
To blame Wayne means you would also have to blame every 35-45 year old that did not serve either.
I have often wondered why others got commissions with seemingly little qualifications that are required of anyone else. Truthfully, I put those speculations aside because there is no reason to bring them up or to care.
It seems to me that Wayne was a victim of having the worst PR/management people in the world for not being able to obtain a suitable position.
Most actors were not like Tillman. They had largely been given "honorary" positions.
Perhaps Wayne is a target of the left because of the admirable values he represents. The left needs away to chip away out those values and sadly Wayne is caught in their cross hairs.
sorry folks- Duplicate first line is result of cut and paste and butter fingers.
Favorite movie of all time – The Quiet Man.
So typical of the Left to attack a man when he's gone.
Hey Libs, you come trespassing on my land, pay no mind to the sign "If You Can Read This, You’re in Range!"
Not soon enough for me. Liberal Hollywood needs a lesson in patriotism (and an @SS kicking) from some honest to God American Patriots – with a capital "P"!
Interesting article.
Wayne once said, “It’s kind of sad when normal love of country makes you a super patriot.”
There are plenty of stories about John Wayne. Some fact, some fiction. There are those from the left who run from the ridiculous to the sublime. I have one that can top probably all of them, and it isn't hearsay, it is first hand. John Wayne had alot of varied business interests, one of them being Hereford cattle, and the -26 (26 Bar) Ranch in Arizona.
I was a snottynosed little kid in the late 60's and had occasion to meet John Wayne at a Stock Show with my old man. I got to shake his hand. I remember that, and what he said. he was larger than life.
Here was a man that was important enough to be anywhere, do anything. Yet he still took the time to bend over and shake hands with a kid. You all can fill in the blanks from there………
I'd like to see Sean Penn do that……….
Are you saying men (like John Wayne, on account of his age and physique) in 30s and 40s cannot serve in the military, fight and defend the country? There are veterans still active in the military in their 30s, 40s and 50s in Afghanistan or Iraq and they can do more than just having special skills.
My ancestor was over the age of 30 when the Civil War broke out. The minimum age was 34 and he was about 35, then "lied" about his age in his enlistment by taking 1 year off his age. He served in the Union Army in various campaigns until he died few months after the war end (it was disease that killed him). There were scores of men who fought on both sides in their ages ranging from late 30s to late 50s. I'm told one Confederate veteran was in his mid-60s when he fought in one of the major Civil War battles; whether it's true or not, I don't know.
John Wayne would have been quite useful in anything within the US military had not he have few physical problems. The US Navy might suit him well.
I wouldn't let Sean Penn anywhere near my kid…
Modern young progressives feel too entitled to do anything other than carp about their next raise or why they don't have a corner office; they don't realize that when the crash comes as a result of the national entitlements
they support and promote, they will be absolutely clueless as to how to survive.
Great article. Oh, what a presence on the screen–utterly compelling, glorious manhood.
I really don't care if John Wayne served or didn't serve. He did more for this country as a great American icon then every leftist malcontent that has walked on this earth and have done nothing but give aid and comfort to our enemies. John Wayne we married with kids from two wives that he was the sole supporter of them ad tens of thousands of American men were in the same boat. WHO CARES, what these low life leftist cowards think, they just want to blacken the Duke's reputation and they can't.
Lots of other actors didn't serve for many reasons, as JFK said life isn't fair. Duke wanted to go and I am sure Ford could of made it happen, but the Duke was a cash cow for Ford and the studio that produced their films. I never served in the military and I made a film about Vietnam, is my film now not important because I wasn't there to make this film correct? Thank God I didn't make a movie about the third Punic Wars, how come that be made today if one wasn't in the Roman Army to tell us about it.
Liberals are mad and they attack al of America's icons to justify their treasonous acts when we are in a war. Look what these mad dogs did during and after the Vietnam War how they spit on returning soldiers in real life then they spit on them in film for the next 40 years. Yet the honor Jane Fonda for her courageous act for cavorting with the enemy. Even today, the leftist hate everything America stands for and they give aid and comfort to the terrorist to the point they make it difficult for our men in the field to kill the enemy. They design these ROE to get our boys killed to change public opinion so they can stop the war and relive their youth as they did in the 1960s. They stopped that war and Nixon's Christmas bombing of Hanoi into the stone age had nothing to do with it at all.
Thank God for JOHN WAYNE and all his great films and all the things he did and said for America. Thank GOD for men like Charlton Heston, Gary Cooper, Robert Mitchum who wanted America to nuke Vietnam and end it. We have film actors who are cowards losers today and they are given a platform as if they are all Winston Churchill. That left has to do this to justify their traitorous activity, what we have to do it constantly honor men like John Wayne who didn't serve and all those who did served. We must expose the ugliness of what the left represents, we do it on blogs, the internet , in films, TV, documentaries, lets put these cultist leftist malcontent's feet to the fire. Let attack their icons as the cowards they are.
GOD BLESS JOHN WAYNE you will continue to be an American icon long after this despicable leftist baby boomer generation is digested worm food.
I, like most, love the Duke too, but I have a little different take on why Progressives and Liberals hate him. I believe it is because in his movies and in his life there was very clearly a right and wrong, a good and a bad. He saw winners and loosers and he did not want himself or America to ever be the looser. This is what makes the Duke so popular to everyday people. Of course he had his own personal flaws as we all do.
The concept of right and wrong, winners and loosers is not acceptable in the world of Progressives and if you become, "a burden to society", such as a child being born into abject poverty, (poverty perpetuated by Progressive and Liberal policies BTW), or an old person that is no longer productive to society, then your life has no value.
Progressives, liberals, whatever they're calling themselves, they hate conservatives…..period. I grew up with a man that I helped more than once, even getting him a good job with the company that employed me. He was always far to the left , but I never required that my friends pass an ideological litmus test, live and let live was my motto. Then came the day I was promoted to supervisor . and I was going through old job applications and correspondence when I came across a letter that my old friend had sent to my predecessor. The letter claimed that I was a gun nut NRA member with an 1870's attitude. It listed offenses that included, insulting President Clinton, complaining about company diversity policies, poor people skills, lack of sensitivity, the list went on, and on. What my old friend never realized is that the man he sent the letter to had influenced me into joining the NRA, he was also an avid hunter with a large collection of rifles, a conservative soul, and a dislike of touchy feely liberals. Two weeks after he received the letter he promoted me to his position and retired. My old friend left the company not long after, and I haven't spoken to him since.
Great article Dan. Virtually every discussion about this subject, on the Web and in books, is full of errors and exaggerations and half-truths. This one is the first I know of that covers ALL the known bases and facts and gives them their proper measure.
My only moment of pause was when you seem to suggest that his various injuries and ailments had something to do with him not signing up — my opinion is that many other enlisted heroes were older and more beat up, and if Duke was fit enough to fall off a horse and stage a stunt fight in front of a camera, he was fit enough to serve. And I would have liked to have heard your take on John Wayne's post-war years, how he reacted to Ford's heckling, how he acted in numerous war movies as a sort of personal penance, and how he continued to visit and support troops in Vietnam, becoming one of the lone voices defending their honor when it seemed much of the rest of the country was spitting on them.
But those are small points to quibble over. This is an excellent and factual overview of a subject that's become mired in Leftist lies and bile. I hereby Christen Dan Gagliasso's article the single best about John Wayne's dealings with the military that I've ever read. Bravo.
Don't forget Audie Murphy, the most decorated American soldier during WWII.
Par, thanks a bunch, I was just thinking about the really good ones, I could have listed a bunch more but what would be the point. Its the problem they have with The Duke, a body of work if you add it all up close to 400 movies and to many of them in the top 100 films of all time The Penn's and the Pitts are just pikers and they know it. You think Penn is going to be even mentioned in anything 40 years after he passes on? I will be coin no and The Duke will sit be.
And I think it´s amazing how conservatives see things in black and white…or maybe it´s not about politics but just human behavior to sometimes see things in black and white? Thank god, I´m colorblind
You may have to do some looking on here but there was an excellent set of articles on John Wayne and the making of "They Were Expendable" that does touch on the Dukes and Fords relationship and the heckling that Ford put Wayne through because Wayne did not serve in WW2. And the fact that the other stars of the movie who had served stood up for John Wayne because they knew why he had not served.
A man whom was presented a honor but let it go for knowing he did not earn it, the times they have changed. There is no wonder why this man is an American hero, not an empty suit.
Contrast that to Obama being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He publically acknowledged he didn't deserve it, but then he went and accepted it anyway.
Dear commie lib Dems, Leave the "Duke" alone. REV Wright LT, USN, 1110, 77-85
Thank for another side I never knew existed. I always accepted the story at face value. I'm so glad there are so many more media outlets now then when I was a kid.
Its one thing to be 18 or 19 and volunteer…
Its quite another to be his age and try to jump in..
Current senior sergeants have been acclimated and properly tested to do the duties they are assigned, because they do them everyday. An older troop in Basic, even in good shape, can experience physical breakdowns far in excess of their normal younger counterparts…and frequently do…
With such finite budgets available, and especially now with the Obama, its better to play the numbers and use the training slots for younger troops, than cycle in and then cycle out older trainees on medicals…and also be responsible for the medical care for those older trainees until they heal…
Its not prejudicial treatment of older enlistees…its practicality…
That being said…there are PLENTY of opportunities for us older Americans to serve…starting with who the fcsk we vote for, and moving outward from there…and as a former troop myself, if you ain't doing it now, you had better get motivated…
How about actor Mark Valley? He's a 1987 graduate of West Point and served in the Gulf War. He played Brad Chase on "Boston Legal" and is currently in the starring role of Christopher Chance in Fox's new drama "Human Target".
Not me…
Imagine all the hand sanitizer you would need…
Hear, hear!
Leo:
Minor point…
In combat, there is no director to yell, "Cut!" when you fall off a horse and need to take a breather for a bit…and there are no buddies and teammates who will die under attack from the enemy while you try to put your injured body back together for the next movie scene…
That's why the physical requirements for service are so high…because the interdependency of individuals in the combat theater requires it…
Didn't know that. Thanks. I watched Human Target for the first time last night. Enjoyed it. If he's ever in a film, I will probably see it because he's in it.
NT, you're right about the stunt work. My dad was an extra in "The Sands of Iwo Jima" (he's one of the real Gyrenes used to film it at Camp Pendleton, CA), and he mentioned it more than once.
He also made a point of telling me something else about the Duke's character. The studio promised the involved battalion a beer bash after the shoot (which was well deserved – they shot 29 takes alone of the Iwo beach landing scene, and just doing it once is a b*tch for the jarheads), but failed to deliver on their promise. Wayne found out and paid for it himself, as well as attending and getting a little schnockered and rowdy.
John Wayne is as much a hero as the men who served, because he told a story for them that they couldn't tell themselves.
God bless him.
Bless you for sharing that story!!!
Excellent article. Thanks for posting it.
Those fools in Hollywood are re-making a John Wayne classic "True Grit." Why? I have no idea. However, the actor whi will " replace" The Duke is none other than…………..Matt Damon! I know, I know.
A lot of folks on the movie blogs brought his name up for the lead in Marvel's upcoming "Captain America" movie, but since he's in his mid-forties, he's been deemed about 15 to 20 years too old. Shame.
I tried to give you a positive thumbs up for you post and could not do it. (I'm not "logged in???")
So I will reply by saying, "I totally agree. The quiet man is a gem of a movie!"
I went through Parris Island boot camp USMC in 1962.
My head Drill Instructor fought in Korea & had been to Viet Nam.
Another DI fought in WW II in the Pacific.
The third DI was a tough kid from Washington, DC destined for Viet Nam.
To a man, they loved John Wayne.
The Marine Corps loved John Wayne.
My grandfather was 33 with three kids and was drafted into the Army. He couldn't get out of it. He ended up as an Engineer (which meant a soldier who also builds things) and spent plenty of time in foxholes listening to younger kids crying and hearing the shells flying overhead.
Thank you so much for this article. I had read the other side of this and had dumped Duke as a Hollywood hypocrit after growing up idolizing him and watching all his movies with my dad. Thanks for reinstating him to the patriot I thought he was.
It's a good thing those documents surfaced in the National Archives before Sandy Burglar could get his hands on them!
I like what you say there, Cazzi. A salute to your family. I am a Nam vet and once in a while somebody will hear that and almost ashamedly say they never did anything like that. I always tell them they did exactly what they needed to do and the biggest thing to continue to do is support our warriors when they come back to the world. I believe John Wayne did what he was suppose to do and he did not make more or less of it. If you read the last line of this excellent article, Wayne pretty wells lays out his philosophy of life "…men should be tough, fair, and courageous, never petty, never looking for a fight, but never backing down from one.” I have a sense he lived that, or nobody would have let him buy them a beer.
One of the better quotes about the Duke's acting ability came from Director John Ford after he saw Wayne's Film "Red River"…. “I didn’t know the SOB could act.” But act he could and he could put butts in theater seats.
Well you have to remember that back in those days, Hollywood stars still had all the faults that the stars have today ( drugs, womanizing,i.e.) but they knew that the only way they could keep making movies was for America to remain strong and defeat her enemies. not the other way around. Of course there are some stars nowdays that might look better in a burka.
Great article – you did your homework! I read somewhere that Clark Gable, devastated over the death of Carole Lombard, volunteered for that dangerous B17 duty.
on the odds of a B17 crewman coming through his requesitge 25 missions not seriously injured or killed – 1 in 3.
Not very good odds.
Par,
Yeah, I wrote those EXPENDABLE pieces, but Dan's article puts more information in and sums it all up nicely, a great one-stop shop on the subject.
Mjolnir says,
"In combat, there is no director to yell, "Cut!" when you fall off a horse and need to take a breather for a bit…and there are no buddies and teammates who will die under attack from the enemy while you try to put your injured body back together for the next movie scene…"
Point taken, although I've read far too many stories about Wayne's almost superhuman vitality, strength, and energy on set to feel comfortable using his age or health as an excuse for his not enlisting. I gave my official rundown on this topic here:
http://tinyurl.com/yzlcos5
I suspect that Gary Wills knows that he is a bald faced LIAR. A total lack of candid, honest comment is rather typical of left wing nutjobs when they write about Conservatives. The same research that was available to Gagliasso was there for Wills. But it is so much easier for the Lefties to just plain LIE. And LIE they do!
There is a children's book called the "Little Red Light House." All you who think John Wayne did not serve his country should read it again. In short, not all of us have us have that ember to be a warrior or a hero; that does not mean we cannot serve our country – everything from donating to causes that help veterans to advocating for veterans causes – we, you, and I are that Little Red Light House while it is the soldier, sailor, airman and marine that are "The Great Grey Bridge." Carry on.
Liberals have a way of perverting the idea of courage when it suits them. There are times when it takes more *moral* courage to admit defeat and quit than it does to go on fighting. Even the staunchest conservative will admit this is true. Unfortunately, leftists apply this bit of common sense to a much wider range of situations than conservatives do. For some of them, running away is *always* somehow wiser and braver than fighting.
In 1991, I had occasion to spend about an hour with Maureen O' Hara, in a NYC Irish Pub. She was wonderfully candid, open etc. When conversation got around to her films with John Wayne, 5 in all, she stated, "the Duke is the same person, in film and out ". She adored him.
As an aside, my dad , who was 40, who had 8 years previous service in the Navy, 1919-1927, tried to enlist in 1942 and was turned down because of "bad teeth". Rules were a lot different in those days.
Contrast this with the American left during the first half of the 20th century. They thought fighting and killing fascists was a good and noble pursuit, and many of them went to Spain to do just that. It was a war they could get behind.
I think the modern left is so tangled up in its own theories and ideological strictures that it couldn't identify a just war if their lives depended on it. All they know how to do today is bitch about what they perceive as unjust wars – which include just about any war America is involved in.
The term "liberal mind" is as much an oxymoron as "jumbo shrimp."
any veteran will tell you that they have NO problem with the Duke…
If for no other reason then his portrayal of Marine Gunnery Sgt Stryker (first photo) in 'Sands of Iwo Jima'.
His fine, nuanced portrayal- Academy award nomination and all- was a prototype for countless Marine gunnys
for the next four decades.
And that's just ONE reason…
I disagree. One should NEVER give up when one's principles are involved…not EVER!
Yes he does put more info in one place for that particular subject and its a great article about the duke. I was just pointing out another article that touched on it too. but thanks for the reply.
In my opinion, his best acting jobs were in The Searchers, Red River and The Shootist, but he did a very good job in True Grit, Operation Pacific, Sands of Iwo Jima, North to Alaska, In Harm's Way, Donovan's Reef, Hatari, The Barbarian and the Geisha, and my best friend's favorite, The Quiet Man
The Green Berets wasn't a very good movie–but John Wayne DID go to Vietnam and one of his prized possessions was a brass bracelet fashioned for him and given to him by a Montaignard chief. He wore it in every one of his movies made afterwards–even if it was anachronistic.
I was in the Hospital in the early 1970's recovering from a bout with exhaustion (I was taking 16 semester hours while working 70-hour weeks as a chief of detectives). A lady who worked with my wife had met John Wayne in Dallas at a GOP convention and had offered him "a yellow rose of Texas for a kiss." Wayne kissed her and she asked me to paint her a rose. I got my wife to bring my water colors and painted a yellow rose superimposed over a waving Texas State flag. She mailed it to him in care of Batjack Productions. I've always wondered if he ever got it.
If that is not sacrilage, I don't know what is…
My father was a Marine at the end of WWII. Before he shipped out to Okinawa, he said that John Wayne was a regular at one of the bars outside of Camp Pendleton, CA. Wayne would lock the doors of the bar and drink with the Marines until the bar closed.
Another regular was a Mexican whose family owned the original land grant from the King of Spain for San Diego and what became Camp Pendleton.
There is a story that I heard from a Marine that was with the Marine detachment on board one of the ships that was used for the filming of "In Harms Way". He told me that Burgess Meridith (SP) used to come down and work out with the the Marines when they were doing their PT. Until the director thought he was going to hurt himself and made him stop. After that the Duke and others would come down and spend time with the Marines.
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I remember hearing how he had to push to get the "Green Berets" made. He felt it was a story that needed to be told. Now hearing that he had ties with the OSS I can understand why he felt the way he did about the Special Forces units.
My pleasure.
As for the Duke, the truth is self-evident.
My Dad was too young to enlist for WWI, but when Korea started up and his older brother either was drafted or enlisted, he tried like heck to convince his mother to give him written permission to join. She refused, already worried over one son. But he said if she didn't let him, he'd run away and do it anyway.
So they compromised. He dropped out of high school and joined the National Guard, hoping they would be called up. But that never happened.
Hope was Canadian I think, I know he wasn't born in the US.
Charles Durning stormed the beaches at Normandy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Durning#Mili...
My Great Grandfather joined the Union army when he was 16. Spent four years building and transporting pontoon bridges, including the nasty incident at Fredericksburg.
Hell, everyone knows that JW didn't dodge the draft, he was deferred by people pushing an agenda. He wasn't the bad guy in this, he wanted to serve, but it was others who wanted to take advantage of him (and they did.) I've know this for years (why this is "news" now is beyond me.) To turn that into some kind of liberal attack is crazy, it's not. Are there liberals who let their brain fall out? Yes there are, but this wasn't a coordinated attack of any kind; and if it was, they surely chose the wrong target. JW was, is, and probably will always be the archetype of a "man."
He was born in London and came here with his family as a child.
A quick glance of imdb revealed the following but no reason why he wasn't in the military:
He changed his name from Leslie to Bob, because in school they would call the roll as 'Hope, Leslie' and classmates shortened it to hopeless.
On his wartime USO tours he had one ironclad rule that he insisted his fellow performers follow: under no circumstances were they allowed to cry when visiting wounded soldiers in military hospitals. This was often difficult given the amount of suffering they saw, but he told his performers that it was their duty to always smile and provide laughs and good cheer for the troops. According to Hope, he broke his own rule only once. While visiting an army hospital in Italy in 1943, he stopped at the bedside of a wounded soldier who had been in a coma for two months. The soldier suddenly opened his eyes and said, "Hey, Bob Hope! When did you get here?" He had to leave the hospital room to keep the troops from seeing his tears, but he returned a few hours later to present the soldier with his Purple Heart medal.
I liked The Shootist the best. For me, it had a much more authentic feeling to it than some of his lighter movies. The style reminds me of some of Clint Eastwood's best work like Josey Wales and High Plains Drifter.
I grew up in the 60's, when Wayne's lesser films were made. I didn't understand why he was so popular. Later, through the magic of video tapes and DVDs, I would see some of his older movies. Smoking Rockets, were they good! It not just the cowboy movies, but movies like Island in the Sky, and Hellfighters.
Wayne seem to know how to portray the feelings and fears of middle age men. I am in my middle ages and I understand him better.
I told one young person who didn't understand him to wait until he was older. He would understand.
P51 Mustang. The American sports car in the sky. I still see them from time to time at air shows. And they still look awesome.
This will be made as a comedy, correct?
You're cracking me up with that sign. That's even better than the local ones I see in NY
"Forget the dog, beware of owner."
Does Hugo Chavez have kids?
Don't waste time worrying about this. This is nothing more than a standard leftist tactic to avoid a logical, reasonable debate. They say if you didn't serve, and won't join now, you are not entitled to speak on any subject having to do with the military.
They, however, after learning how to make giant paper-mache puppets, are more than entitled to say what ever the hell they want.
Isn't it grand when fate dishes it out to some deserving tool!
On the upside, with a side by side comparison with Wayne Damon will amply display his exact acting skills. Once and for all.
Seriously, this is not a "left vs right" thing.
I'm pretty far on the "left" side of the dial and I totally agree that John Wayne was an American icon and patriot. I don't see the popular targets of fox news (i.e. Sean Penn, Tim Robbins) as being icons, but they certainly love their country, that's exactly why they're passionate about it. I don't claim to agree with everything they say, but I won't deny their right to speak freely.
(side note: If you really don't like what they have to say, stop clicking on the "Sean Penn" stories on websites. If no one is interested, then the press will stop writing about it).
The one thing that I think The Duke could teach both sides is that patriotism isn't a virtue of any one political party or leaning. After the 1960 presidential election, John Wayne said of the victor "I didn't vote for him but he's my president, and I hope he does a good job."
Spoken like a true class act and patriot.
Thank you for your service to our country.
Love John Wayne! Sad to see all the hate here though. There are people, other American's that happen to believe there are other ways to achieve the goals we all want. They, like many on the right and here in the comments of this forum, vilify and generalize an entire segment of our nation with labels and hate. That, on either side, is just wrong and doesn't do anyone any good.
John Wayne was a great actor, a fine man, and I think a Patriot by any definition. It's too bad so many here don't live up to that same ideal.
Carry on!
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