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

[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...