Thursday, October 29, 2009
John Wayne was not a hero
From the RoundTable blog
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Charlie Self
Self is a writer and photographer living in Bedford.
Re: "No peace, no prize," Oct. 14 commentary:
Finding points of disagreement with Cal Thomas is simple. Just read what he has to say, then parse it. His column on President Obama not deserving the Nobel Peace Prize makes it sound as if our president had been out there lobbying hard for the prize. That is specious, of course, but typical.
Thomas goes on to say that those of us who prefer Michael J. Fox to John Wayne are liberal wimps. Yes, well, Fox is fighting hard to defeat a major illness, and spreading his fight to help those who have the same disease but are unable to fight as he can. Money and visibility do count. He uses them well.
Wayne as a hero has irked me for nearly 50 years. Not long after I graduated from boot camp at Parris Island, I discovered that Wayne had avoided serving in World War II.
There are numerous excuses put forth, from an infected ear (four years worth?) to a bad knee caused by a football injury. In fact, he got a 3A classification to support his family, and, later, was bumped to 2A, in the national interest, because his 13 movies made during this period were considered a home-front help. He was later bumped to the dreaded 1A, but his studio got him bumped back to 2A. He had, according to reports, said he'd enlist after his career and family were secure. He let all his chances pass.
This is Thomas' hero. If he had to pick a Hollywood type for a hero, why not latch on to Lee Marvin, Charlton Heston, Clark Gable, Brian Keith, James Stewart, David Niven, Robert Ryan, Tyrone Power, Glenn Ford, Leslie Howard, Walter Matthau, Jeff Chandler, Henry Fonda, James Arness, Sterling Hayden, Mel Brooks, Jack Palance, Gene Autry, Robert Stack, Jason Robards Jr., Mickey Rooney, William Holden or many others -- men and women who actually at the least put themselves up for heroic stature -- instead of Wayne, who managed to stay home, make money and party during the war years?
While doing some light research, I tried to get some solid background on Thomas. There's not much out there. Did he ever serve in the military? It seems unlikely. What real attempts has he made at improving anything other than his own bank account? I couldn't find any, which may explain why he idolizes Wayne, a man after his own heart.
It's no wonder he thinks peace prizes don't count.
