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We were close friends with him and his wife Pilar.

Then you are in an unique position to address a phenomenon which is to be seen not just the threads of FreeRepublic but across the American culture which is the confusion of the cinematic image of John Wayne with the actual human being.

There are actors who were real heroes in World War II like Jimmy Stewart or Lee Marvin and, certainly, Audie Murphy. I would include David Niven. But it is Wayne who is held up as the iconic image of the American who won World War II. Wayne himself, not only his screen portrayals, are held up as the ideal American heroic image or at least the two have become so intertwined in the American mind that they are inseparable.

Why should this be so?

Of equal interest, to me at least, is the reflexive, virulent hatred of Wayne by the left. He brilliantly burlesqued their childish dislike of the man instead of the screen image when he appeared at Harvard riding atop a tank.

By way of full disclosure, I love John Wayne movies, I've always thought he was a much better actor than the left gave him credit for being. My two favorite roles are, The Quiet Man and True Grit but any movie by John Ford in which Wayne appeared certainly borders on the classic.

One other question, what about Wayne's equivalent of Sinatra's rat pack. We see Ward Bond and Victor McLachlan appearing over and over again in the Wayne movies is that because of their association with Wayne or because of their association with John Ford? What do you know about that dynamic? Were they really good drinking buddies? How did a behave off camera?

I think Walter Brennan was also one of the Duke’s friends. They kind of ganged up on Montgomery Clift during the filming of Red River. Then they all wanted Clift for the Dean Martin role in Rio Bravo but Clift refused it because he didn’t want to be teased by them. Dino is great in the movie but it would have been interesting to see Clift.

I don’t think Wayne had a rat pack. If anything, it was John Ford who had followers - including the Duke.

I think John Wayne was held up as the epitome of bravery and the American spirit because of his unbelievable charisma and - face it - incredible male beauty. John Ford recognized this in the early 30s and set him up for stardom by his first amazing closeup in “Stagecoach.” Still my favorite closeup in film history - along with the shot of Wayne in “The Searchers” after he visits the sanctuary of women who were raped by Indians.

There was no way a David Niven or Lee Marvin could compete with that image. Lee Marvin is exceptional though, in some of the Duke’s movies. Liberty Valence himself!

I would include Niven as well. Left Hollywood in 1939 to serve for the second time in British Army. Landed at D-Day a few days after initial wave, was at the Battle of the Bulge and presented LOM by Eisenhower.

There are actors who were real heroes in World War II like Jimmy Stewart . . . But it is Wayne who is held up as the iconic image of the American who won World War II . . . Why should this be so?

John Wayne was too old to enlist on December 7th, 1941. He applied for direct commission as an officer since the age rule didn't apply, but they wanted him to make war films instead. So, despite being told he was to 'serve' in Hollywood, John Wayne, as Marion Mitchell Morrison, applied to join the OSS in WWII. His desire to serve was a great as any man's.

I learned the last bit - about the OSS - while visiting the National Archives in DC. They have the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution up in the center of the main hall, but there are other documents on display as well. Some of them, like the Congressional Record opened to a resolution introduced by Davy Crockett are records of things the US government has done, but some of them are records the government has that are more for social interest.

One of them that they displayed for a while was John Wayne's application to join the OSS. In the section on special skills, it says, "I can ride and I can shoot." It is typed, and has a whole section with strike throughs because it was in the wrong place. The content is repeated in the right section. It's obviously the genuine article, as was the man.

Even aside from the propaganda or morale value of his wartime films, I think John Wayne was a genuine patriot and as courageous as those who served in other ways. He deserves a place as an American hero.

I rank The Searchers #1 but the trilogy cavalry flicks: Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, and Rio Grande are 3 of my favorites mainly due to Ben Johnson, Ward Bond, Harey Carey Jr, and Victor MacLaglen.

The is one answer to your two questions: Because Wayne WAS Iconic of a certain attitude in America. He was a symbol.

I have known all my life that Wayne “never fought a battle” because over time, usually during an advertisement for “Duke Wayne week” on the Million Dollar Movie (or some such)an adult would idly comment to that effect. There was never any contempt or venom in the remark. In the age of mass media (starting I suppose with widely circulated photography)images that are in some way Iconic resonate widely.

Do you recall the Gulf War, Time cover of the helmeted, unshaven, Marlboro dangling war-weary Sgt.? People seemed actually surprised that The Real Thing could look so improbably much like “the real thing”.

There are actors who were real heroes in World War II like Jimmy Stewart or Lee Marvin and, certainly, Audie Murphy. I would include David Niven. But it is Wayne who is held up as the iconic image of the American who won World War II. Wayne himself, not only his screen portrayals, are held up as the ideal American heroic image or at least the two have become so intertwined in the American mind that they are inseparable.

And this is part of why I don't like Marion. The other part is that he would insist on top billing in any movie featuring actual heroes. Men of real accomplishment are secure enough in their self-image to exercise restraint and express humility. "Wayne" could appear in a war film featuring men who had bravely fought in the very war depicted and he, a career actor, would always get lead credit. He could have, occasionally, taken a step back and allowed better men to have the limelight. It's a credit to Jimmy Steward's character that he would continue to work with The Duke and just that matter slide. Steward could have absolutely humiliated Marion if he had wanted that guy out of the way.

Besides that, "Wayne" was a lousy actor. "The Conqueror" is example of his prowess.