A great American Conservative, and life-long hero of mine.
He was a life-long hero of yours? Goodness gracious. The man had no real war-time experiences. He was a Hollywood ACTOR. What's to admire about that?
I can understand that you could admire the kind of person he portrayed but surely not the person he was.
If you want a hero, think of someone like Audey Murphy. Here's a guy who fought the Germans in real combat situations and was the most decorated soldier of World War II. Now, there's a hero, not some actor who is good at make-believe.