(Yes, he was a movie star, but his persona and his sayings and his thoughts that he expressed on what is best for securing the safety and ‘health’ of America were an influence on many in our whole country for a generation. Below I have chronicled a bit of his life, and some of his sayings and thoughts on the preservation of America for you. John Wayne was for sure a “man’s man”!)
John Wayne was born May 26, 1907.
His given name was Marion Mitchell Morrison, grandson of a Scots-Irish Presbyterian veteran of the Civil War.
He played football for University of Southern California. and worked behind-the-scenes at Fox Studios.
Raoul Walsh, director of film The Big Trail (1930), first suggested his screen name be “Anthony Wayne” after Revolutionary War general “Mad Anthony” Wayne, but settled upon “John Wayne.”
He became an Academy Award winning actor for portraying cowboys and soldiers in action western and war films, appearing in over 200 films, and holding the Hollywood record of starring in 142 films.
John Wayne’s career took off when director John Ford cast him in epic western films such as:
- Fort Apache (1948);
- She Wore A Yellow Ribbon (1949); and
- Rio Grande (1950).
The immensely popular 1952 movie, The Quiet Man, depicting the humorously stubborn traditions of Irish courtship, is memorialize by a statue in the town of Cong, Ireland, with John Wayne carrying his fiery-tempered redhead co-star, Maureen O’Hara.
John Wayne became an icon of the U.S. Armed Forces for depicting the strength and sacrifice of American military personnel during World War II, Korea and Vietnam:
- The Flying Tigers (1942);
- The Fighting Seabees (1944);
- They Were Expendable (1945);
- Back to Bataan (1945);
- The Sands of Iwo Jima (1949);
- The Flying Leathernecks (1951);
- Operation Pacific (1951);
- The Longest Day (1962);
- In Harm’s Way (1965); and
- The Green Berets (1968).
These films had the international effect of publicizing America’s military might and moral values, was demonstrated when Japanese Emperor Hirohito visited the United States in 1975 and asked to meet John Wayne.
Wayne stated:
“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.”
“All battles are fought by scared men who’d rather be some place else.”
“Life it tough, but it’s tougher if you’re stupid.”
Regarding socialism, John Wayne stated in an interview, May 1971:
“In the late Twenties, when I was a sophomore at University of Southern California, I was a socialist myself — but not when I left.
The average college kid idealistically wishes everybody could have ice cream and cake for every meal.
But as he gets older and gives more thought to his and his fellow man’s responsibilities, he finds that it can’t work out that way — that some people just won’t carry their load.
I believe in welfare — a welfare work program. I don’t think a fella should be able to sit on his backside and receive welfare.
I’d like to know why well-educated idiots keep apologizing for lazy and complaining people who think the world owes them a living.
I’d like to know why they make excuses for cowards who spit in the faces of the police and then run behind the judicial sob sisters.
I can’t understand these people who carry placards to save the life of some criminal, yet have no thought for the innocent victim.”
Wayne stated:
“… Government has no wealth, and when a politician promises to give you something for nothing, he must first confiscate that wealth from you — either by direct taxes, or by the cruelly indirect tax of inflation.”
“… I would think somebody like Jane Fonda and her idiot husband would be terribly ashamed and saddened that they were a part of causing us to stop helping the South Vietnamese. Now look what’s happening. They’re getting killed by the millions. Murdered by the millions. How the hell can she and her husband sleep at night?”
“… My hope and prayer is that everyone know and love our country for what she really is and what she stands for.”
On May 26, 1979, the U.S. Congress awarded him the Congressional Gold Medal.
President Jimmy Carter, who later awarded John Wayne the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously, stated:
“I have today approved a specially struck gold medal to John Wayne. For nearly half a century, the Duke has symbolized the American ideals of integrity, courage, patriotism, and strength and has represented to the world many of the deepest values that this Nation respects.”
In 1998, the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation honored John Wayne with the Naval Heritage Award for his support of the U. S. Navy and military.
A Harris Poll, January 2011, ranked John Wayne third among America’s favorite film stars.
In 1979, California’s Orange County airport was named John Wayne Airport.
Ronald Reagan said November 5, 1984:
“I noted the news coverage about the death of my friend, John Wayne. One headline read ‘The Last American Hero’ …
No one would be angrier than Duke Wayne at the suggestion that he was America’s last hero.
Just before he died, John Wayne said in his unforgettable way, ‘Just give the American people a good cause, and there’s nothing they can’t lick.'”
Ron
True Texan Tales 