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Re: When Masculine Virtues Go Out of Fashion
An aside on the Great Man:
I had the pleasure of serving in the US Army in 1957-58 - pleasure because it was between wars and served as a transition for me into adult maleness. At that time, many of our lifers were veterans of WW2 and Korea who had remained in the service as a career move. Many sergeants first class had been brevet captains, majors and, in at least one case, a lieutenant colonel commanding a regiment in Europe, the entire command staff of that unit having been killed or severely wounded.
These worthies uniformly looked upon Wayne as a draft-dodging, wife-beating phony and made sure the recruits heard that opinion. Consequently, calling a fellow serviceman "John Wayne" constituted an insult more deadly than any of the colorful scatological military vocabulary commonly in use.
Charles A. Leach
Master Shake;163326]By Tom Hoffman
John Wayne epitomized the rugged individual who was committed to fighting "the bad guy," but he was only one of a whole host of competing figures cut out of the same cloth. What happened?
John Wayne epitomized the rugged individual who was committed to fighting "the bad guy," but he was only one of a whole host of competing figures cut out of the same cloth. What happened?
I had the pleasure of serving in the US Army in 1957-58 - pleasure because it was between wars and served as a transition for me into adult maleness. At that time, many of our lifers were veterans of WW2 and Korea who had remained in the service as a career move. Many sergeants first class had been brevet captains, majors and, in at least one case, a lieutenant colonel commanding a regiment in Europe, the entire command staff of that unit having been killed or severely wounded.
These worthies uniformly looked upon Wayne as a draft-dodging, wife-beating phony and made sure the recruits heard that opinion. Consequently, calling a fellow serviceman "John Wayne" constituted an insult more deadly than any of the colorful scatological military vocabulary commonly in use.
Charles A. Leach
He probably did more good for the country acting anyway. He did everything legal to avoid going to war. Perhaps that makes him a hypocrite? But some people confuse Hollywood with reality. He played a gung ho soldier. He didn't claim to be one. I know and have interviewed a lot of WWII veterans. When I ask them if they volunteered, most say, "Hell no, I was drafted". And even then they put it off as long as possible. Many would tell me, "I'm glad I served and wouldnt trade the experience for anything, but I also wouldn't want to ever go through it again." As for the wife beating part I don't know, but one of his wives supposedly took a shot at him. 
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