Then you are in an unique position to address a phenomenon which is to be seen not just the threads of FreeRepublic but across the American culture which is the confusion of the cinematic image of John Wayne with the actual human being.
There are actors who were real heroes in World War II like Jimmy Stewart or Lee Marvin and, certainly, Audie Murphy. I would include David Niven. But it is Wayne who is held up as the iconic image of the American who won World War II. Wayne himself, not only his screen portrayals, are held up as the ideal American heroic image or at least the two have become so intertwined in the American mind that they are inseparable.
Why should this be so?
Of equal interest, to me at least, is the reflexive, virulent hatred of Wayne by the left. He brilliantly burlesqued their childish dislike of the man instead of the screen image when he appeared at Harvard riding atop a tank.
By way of full disclosure, I love John Wayne movies, I've always thought he was a much better actor than the left gave him credit for being. My two favorite roles are, The Quiet Man and True Grit but any movie by John Ford in which Wayne appeared certainly borders on the classic.
One other question, what about Wayne's equivalent of Sinatra's rat pack. We see Ward Bond and Victor McLachlan appearing over and over again in the Wayne movies is that because of their association with Wayne or because of their association with John Ford? What do you know about that dynamic? Were they really good drinking buddies? How did a behave off camera?
