[VOA]

Someone help me here? What did the "Duke " do wrong?

Likely nothing at all.

I wonder if any of the Hollywood biographers have delved deep
enough into the government archives and studio archives to find out
if John Wayne might have been told "stay home, make good movies,
inspire the war effort".

At the same time I admit I do have a fair reservoir of respect for
Clark Gable and Jimmy Stewart. They both saw real (dangerous)
service and to some degree had their careers blunted (maybe more
so for Stewart).

I just finished reading a biography of Stewart and he spent plenty
of time in the service being held out of the action. He actually
pushed to get into the hazardous job of flying bombers in the ETO.
And apparently had a fair bit of residual trauma from what he
witnessed during those long flight. But he never slacked
off or tried to avoid "the hard jobs".

[wtc911]

About Kohn Ford and Wayne's lack of service...

"Ford was disgusted by John Wayne's refusal to enlist in 1941. When Ford filmed They Were Expendable (1945) after World War II he included every actor's former military rank and branch (Ford himself was a Navy officer and combat photographer). Of course, there were no credentials behind Wayne's name, which the actor took as a real slap."

This is a well known bit of Hollywood history. Ford, btw, was 13 years older than Wayne and he went to war with a camera in his hand. And, Robert Montegomery, the star of the film, left a better Hollywood career than Wayne's and went to war where he skippered a PT Boat for real.

Wayne was nothing but an actor, putting him (or any celebrity) on a pedestal invites ridicule.

[ishabibble]

Here is an interesting site that lists Hollywood actors who served in WWII.

http://www.jodavidsmeyer.com/combat/military/actors_in_wwii.html

The first one is Don Adams (Maxwell Smart)!