John Ford was an Admiral in the US Navy. You don’t think he could have gotten Duke in? The reverse is the truth… Duke begged Ford to help him enlist and Ford told him he was worth more to morale and selling bonds by making movies. Ford blocked his enlistment.
NOTE FROM MODERATOR: Please be aware that this thread was started in 2007, revived 5/2013 in post #36. – CKDH
I take it you read Cecil’s article and wish to contest it?
Of all the SDMB members I am probably one of John Wayne’s biggest critics. (and I don’t mean his acting).
You forgot to mention he couldn’t join because of an ear infection or a football injury. Nope neither one of those is true.
If John Wayne was the 150% American everyone thinks he is, why didn’t he join the service even before the war started? He wanted to go to the Naval Academy but just missed getting in. So, why didn’t he just join the Navy? Ernest Borgnine did that in 1935 and served for 10 years.
John Wayne was too importatnt to morale? Well, I guess other actors (Clark Gable, Henry Fonda, Tyrone Power, etc) decided to “shirk” their American morale value and took the “easy” way out by serving in a real war.
Sorry for sounding so bitter, but I guess it’s because I am.
Not to mention Jimmy Stewart, who really put the lie to Wayne’s “morale” excuse by:
enlisting a year before Pearl Harbor…
when he was already an established star…
and already in his mid 30s…
actively working to overcome obstacles to his enlistment rather than trying to find some (he had to go on a workout regimen to reach the required minimum weight!)
performing morale-boosting radio broadcasts for the troops
ended up flying combat missions over Europe and being decorated a half-dozen times
Too bad he didn’t stay home and make movies to show how much he loved America, huh? :rolleyes:
And then again there was Frank Sinatra with ,I believe ,his pierced eardrum…he was so lucky that once the war had ended he never had any trouble from it ever again.
A pierced eardrum is relatively harmless, but can be fatal in a poison-gas attack. For that reason, it was a by-the-book reason for rejection. And an Army doctor verified that Sinatra had one.
Question for wolf_meister, OneCentStamp, and all others who are “bitter” about John Wayne’s lack of service: Respectfully, mind if I ask why?
My gut instinct is that this is a generational thing — but I (who was not alive at the time) could not care less about John Wayne’s lack of service. I’m duly impressed by Jimmy Stewart’s service, but I don’t see why that means that John Wayne should have had to serve if he didn’t want to/wasn’t drafted.
If he was drafted and dodged - that’s one thing. But he wasn’t - he was granted several deferrals, which to my mind means Uncle Sam himself says it’s okay not to fight. If Joe Nobody was granted 3-A status and didn’t have to go - I wouldn’t have a problem with that. Why should I care if Wayne was in the same situation? I don’t think it makes anyone less American if they don’t go fight in a war they’re not compelled to go to.
So I guess I’m just wondering the real problem? Is it the “morale” justification that gets bandied around? Is it simply the fact that he didn’t serve, but acted in war movies? Is it because he was supposed to be some “tough guy,” but didn’t want to go kick some ass like a tough guy should? Is it because you had friends and family who went to war, and it’s not fair that a movie star shouldn’t have to?
I’m truly curious - so please, one of you codgers spell it out for me. I’d also be interested to hear (a) whether you’re ex-military (to see if that factors in to your opinion) and (b) if you think being bitter at John Wayne over not enlisting is a generational thing (and indirectly related = what generation you are).
Doctor Who
I’m glad you asked. In my case being born in 1951, I was of draft age during the Vietnam War. My 4 years of college were from 1969 - 1973. The draft and the Vietnam War ended in 1973 and I did not have to go.
What bothers me is the fact that this larger than life icon (to most people) was a rather outspoken proponent of the Vietnam War yet when it was his time to serve, he took an easy way out. A lot of John Wayne’s deferment facts were not known back in the 1960’s and 1970’s and people always made excuses for him such as “his football injury in college made him ineligible”. Bullshit!!! Now, thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, the Internet, and so on, I realize what a shallow “hero” he really was.
Also, being 5’3" tall, I couldn’t possibly be any kind of a “hero” right? I could never measure up to the Duke. Look up about Audie Murphy - the number one hero of World War II. A guy who was not much taller than I am. Still, if people were to think about WWII heroes, I’m sure John “Celluloid Hero” Wayne would come to mind a lot faster than Audie Murphy. :mad: