THE TRUTH ABOUT JOHN WAYNE� LONG ESTABLISHED NOTIONS WILL WHIP REALITY, EVERY TIME (Barf Alert)

NY Post ^ | June 3, 2007 | Phil Mushnick

[lowbridge]

this past Memorial Day weekend, was loaded with John Wayne movies, Wayne being the symbol of American stand-up-and-fight courage, especially in the most bloody and noble of U.S. military endeavors.

But when you tell people, especially lovers of John Wayne and all he ostensibly stood for and still stands for, that Wayne assiduously avoided military service during World War II, well, they either don't believe it or don't take it well.

At the outbreak of WW II, Wayne was 34, the father of four and his movie career was on the grow. He didn't have to enlist. And he didn't.

But many other "older" Hollywood leading men heard the call and answered it. Clark Gable was past 40 when he flew combat missions. Jimmy Stewart, who in four years rose from Pvt. Stewart to Col. Stewart, was 34 when he joined the Air Corps, gaining weight to meet the minimum standard.

But John Wayne, the fellow who starred in so many World War II action movies, never served.

Yet, TV programmers have seen to it that Wayne, more than any other American, is synonymous with Memorial Day, a day to honor those who did serve

[lowbridge]

"At the outbreak of WW II, Wayne was 34, the father of four and his movie career was on the grow. He didn't have to enlist. And he didn't."

"When the Duke was a young man he wanted to attend Annapolis (the Navy Military Academy) but was unable to win an appointment from his state's Senator. When he was awarded a scholarship to the University of Southern California he went there to play football. The Duke was 34 when World War II started and the father of 4 children so he was exempted from the draft. If he was to volunteer his medical examination showed that he would have needed to seek a wavier for his bad ankle something that was not being granted until much later in the war and never for combat troops."

http://www.jwaynefan.com/military.html

"But many other "older" Hollywood leading men heard the call and answered it. Clark Gable was past 40 when he flew combat missions. Jimmy Stewart, who in four years rose from Pvt. Stewart to Col. Stewart, was 34 when he joined the Air Corps, gaining weight to meet the minimum standard."

Gable and Stewart didn't have a wife and 4 kids to support. They were both single and childless at the time (Gable was a widow, his wife Carole Lombard dying in a plane crash)

[The Pack Knight]

Phil Mushnick.. sounds familiar..

[SittinYonder]

He didn't have to enlist. And he didn't.

But that won't prevent us from making a big deal out of it, because we hate anything that might represent what is great about this nation and John Wayne - because of the larger-than-life and purely American characters he portrayed - represents some of the greatness of this country.

We are the NY Slimes, and we represent what is dispicable.

[JEC]

Gable was a widow, his wife Carole Lombard dying in a plane crash

While on a war bond drive.

[The Pack Knight]

Oh yeah, now I remember. He’s a Lilleputian polemicist of a sportswriter. The guy makes a living trashing people like Vince McMahon and Steven A. Smith.

[machogirl]

clinton didn’t have to enlist, and he didn’t, instead he spent time serving america by protesting vietnam in russia and going to oxford

[The Pack Knight]

Actually, it’s the Post, Murdoch’s paper.

[Little_shoe]

I was talking to a friend of mine who was in the Navy during WW2 and Korea who mentioned this to me about two weeks ago.

[Popman]

We are the NY Slimes, and we represent what is despicable.

It was in the NY Post

I'm still trying to find the story here. The agenda is clear

A father of 4 didn't have to serve and decided his family was important

Someone help me here? What did the "Duke " do wrong?

[LibFreeOrDie]

Mushnick is the NY Post’s sports writer.

[PROTESTBYPROXY]

This may all be true but I will bet my life he did more for my country than you, Mr.Mushnick.

[SittinYonder]

Actually, it’s the Post, Murdoch’s paper.

LOL ... I saw the NY and read "Times" ...

Feeling stupid, I'll salvage my reputation with this:

All those weasel journalists are the same!

How's that?

[SeaBiscuit]

Thank You! ..also, the military believed at that time John Wayne would do the country a better service by continuing to make patriotic war films..

[The Pack Knight]

That’s about right. See me Post #4.

[The Pack Knight]

Or my post #5. I got me Irish up..

[word_warrior_bob]

Mushnick, rhymes with mushdick.

[APFel]

What did the "Duke " do wrong?

In my opinion, nothing. I think what he did on film boosted American morale and provided something more to American war efforts than he could have if he fired a rifle or piloted an fighter.

APf

[Paperdoll]

John Wayne fought on a different front. His reruns are still doing it. :o)

[lowbridge]

Someone help me here? What did the "Duke " do wrong?

Liberal strawman. According to them, we conservatives are not supposed to like or support people who did not serve, much less enlisted.

[dsc]

I was going to e-mail Mushnik, but couldn’t find a link.

“Phil, you ignorant slut. Wayne tried to enlist, was turned down, and flew to D.C. at his own expense to ask for a waiver—also refused.

I understand your burning emotional need to wee-wee on Wayne’s memory, given that you are a pathetic loser who is not fit to chew his jockstraps clean, but you really should try to find or invent some slander that is not so easily rebutted.”

[RGSpincich]

So what? Jimmy Sewart got the credit when John Wayne shot Liberty Valance. /s
John Wayne served his country well at what he did.

[KC_Conspirator]

This is nothing more than a childish attempt to take a slap at Wayne because he stood for America, conservatism, and all that was good in this country. So this piece of filth, this lying author, stands for hating America and all that is perverted.

[LibFreeOrDie]

This Memorial Day weekend coincided with Wayne’s 100th birthday, and it’s always been public knowledge that Wayne wasn’t in the military, so Mushnick should shuddup already...

[Tut]

Thank You! ..also, the military believed at that time John Wayne would do the country a better service by continuing to make patriotic war films..

I heard that too and I looked at a couple sites and couldn't see that mentioned.

Leave it up to the MSM trying to diss a good man.

[TruthConquers]

Someone help me here? What did the “Duke “ do wrong?
*****************************************************

Nothing!!! He just did what the MSM refuses to do today, boost morale at home. And they still hate him for it!

[Michael.SF.]

that Wayne that Wayne assiduously avoided military service during World War II, ... He didn't have to enlist. And he didn't.

Not enlisting is equated to "assiduously avoid(ing)"?

I guess I then I am guilty of assiduously avoiding Vietnam with my "320" lottery number.

[LibLieSlayer]

Well then, by default this would be hildebeast’s paper... since she owns murdoch now!

LLS

[EndWelfareToday]

I'd like to know how many young men joined the military because of the rolls John Wayne played on the silver screen? How many young men wanted to be the like the war heroes Mr. Wayne's characters were?

There are many ways to serve one's country in a time of war. Belittling any of those acts of patriotism only serves to diminish the strength and character of our armed forces. Wayne could have been like Bill Clinton and slithered off to Germany/Italy or Japan and aided and abetted our enemy like Clinton did in the former USSR. He could have been like Jane Fonda, Tom Hanks or Meg Ryan and stared in movies that made the military look like a bunch of ragtag ignoramuses hell bent on tearing down the brave men and women sacrificing their lives for the freedoms he enjoyed. Instead he chose to play the roles that glorified the military, the United States and our way of life.

I'd like to know which of Wayne's critics did as much for America, her military and her culture as John Wayne did.

[Michael.SF.]

Leave it up to the MSM trying to diss a good man.

Yes, and to do so long after he has passed.

[Oztrich Boy]

Also

Captain Kangaroo was not a real captain
Doctor Hook did not have a medical degree

[SeaBiscuit]

“Leave it up to the MSM trying to diss a good man.”

Yep, the wicked left want to wipe out every last vestige of our Traditions and Culture.. they hate ‘America’.

[No Blue States]

Good, A man with 4 kids shouldnt be leaving. His patriotic films were so beneficial Stalin put a hit out on him.

The foregoing facts clearly influenced the direction of Wayne's later life. By all accounts, Wayne's failure to serve in the military during World War II was the most painful experience of his life.[19] Clearly, there were some other stars who, for various reasons, did not enlist. But Wayne, by virtue of becoming a celluloid war hero in scores of patriotic war films, became the focus of particular disdain from both himself and certain portions of the public, particularly in later years. The rampant patriotism with which he was so identified in the decades to come sprang, it appears, not from hypocrisy but from guilt. Wayne's third wife, Pilar, wrote, "He would become a 'superpatriot' for the rest of his life trying to atone for staying home."[20]

[RichInOC]

Never mind that. I’m still mourning the fact that the Clara Bow thing wasn’t true.

[rljv]

This is the oldest hit piece in Hollywood and it still fails to impress.
John Wayne improved morale (still does posthumously), so he served. Some other war vets might feel differently.
Maybe The Post can go find something interesting about which to report, like how Gary Sinise never served but spends his free time and money on improving troop morale. That’s the whole list of current John Wayne type Hollywood “hypocrites” (those who help without enlisting). The rest do nothing and worse.
Oh; Stevie Nicks spends money and time on the troops.
There are so many great stories out there in Baghdad and on military bases.
The Post. They can do better than this.
Sigh.

[lowbridge]

I'd like to know how many young men joined the military because of the rolls John Wayne played on the silver screen? How many young men wanted to be the like the war heroes Mr. Wayne's characters were?

Lots of them. :-)

"When Marine Corps recruiting was critically down following World War II the Marine Corps Commandant personally asked John Wayne to make "Sands of Iwo Jima" (1949). Recruitment went through the roof and he received a personal thank you from the Commandant and a special citation of merit."

http://www.jwaynefan.com/military.html

[dsc]

I love that poster. It just annoys me that there is a superfluous comma after “heathen.”

[Sherman Logan]

In 1944 Wayne was reclassified as 1-A. His studio appealed and got him reclassified to 2-A until the war ended.

I think you’re missing the point of the criticism, which appears to be that anybody who didn’t struggle desperately to fight has no right to suggest that anybody else should.

It’s a variant of the chicken-hawk argument. If you haven’t personally served in Iraq you have no moral right to support the war. Anybody, of course, has the right to oppose it.

[my_pointy_head_is_sharp]

What’s sad is that all these wingnuts with agendas have platforms with which to spew their vitriol.

[tiki]

And so... Did he go to DC and march against the war? Did he call for assassination of the president? Did every 34 yr old who could have joined up, join?

[Chode]

he did much more for the war effort making movies than had he enlisted...

[TMSuchman]

I read the book by Pillar [his widow] and she stated that he wanted to but the Studio would not let him go, because of the money that he was bringing in. The head of the studio yelled at him that if he did enlist that they would sue him into bankrupcy, and with 1 girlfriend/wife, 2 ex-wives & 4 kids to support & not to enclude all of the extended family that he supported, that was a very real threat.

So during that time he became a super Patriot, there was also a story that he had worked with the old OSS, John Wayne had even stated that he had done some things for them while working overseas, but never stated just what they were.

[Beckwith]

Phil Mushnick? — enough said!

[The Pack Knight]

The only cause I've ever had to doubt his patriotism was the fact that he demanded $250,000 for his role in The Longest Day, as opposed to the $10,000 everyone else accepted. His reason was more a personal issue between himself and Darryl Zanuck, the producer, than anything.

Still, this is just another smear job from a man who makes his living attacking those greater than he.

[lowbridge]

Captain Kangaroo was not a real captain

Nope. He was a mere corporal. He should have went to prison for impersonating an officer.

Doctor Hook did not have a medical degree

Of course not. Who said he did? He had a PHD in Psychology.

;-)

[BGHater]

Hear the Duke in his own words:

Pledge of Allegiance
http://www.fiftiesweb.com/usa/john-wayne-pledge.mp3

Story of Taps
http://www.fiftiesweb.com/usa/john-wayne-taps.mp3

America, Why I Love Her
http://www.fiftiesweb.com/usa/john-wayne-love.mp3

America, The Good Things
http://www.fiftiesweb.com/usa/john-wayne-good.mp3

Face the Flag, Son
http://www.fiftiesweb.com/usa/john-wayne-face-flag.mp3

An American Boy Grows Up
http://www.fiftiesweb.com/usa/john-wayne-boy.mp3

[durasell]

This is old, old news. The most interesting thing is that the director, John Ford, never let Wayne forget he didn’t serve.

[vetvetdoug]

I WON the lottery.....I got number 30 and they took up to number 60 that year. Now if I could only win the Powerball....

[mt tom]

agreed liberals are great at lying and obfuscating the real meaning when someone isn't around to defend themselves

[dsc]

“In 1944 Wayne was reclassified as 1-A. His studio appealed and got him reclassified to 2-A until the war ended.”

I didn’t know that. Do you have a source?

“I think you’re missing the point of the criticism, which appears to be that anybody who didn’t struggle desperately to fight has no right to suggest that anybody else should.”

No, I understand that. However, flying to DC to ask for a waiver would seem to meet that standard.

“It’s a variant of the chicken-hawk argument. If you haven’t personally served in Iraq you have no moral right to support the war. Anybody, of course, has the right to oppose it.”

Which logic, of course, stinks badly enough to knock a buzzard off a manure wagon.

[lowbridge]

I was going to e-mail Mushnik, but couldn’t find a link.

phil.mushnick@nypost.com