Posted on 03/08/2003 7:33:23 PM PST by ATOMIC_PUNK
You ask me Why I Love Her?
Well, give me time and I'll explain.
Have you seen a Kansas sunset
or an Arizona rain?
Have you drifted on a bayou
down Louisiana way?
Have you watched a cold fog drifting
over San Francisco Bay?
Have you heard a bobwhite calling in the Carolina pines,
Or heard the bellow of a diesel at the Appalachia mines?
Does the call of Niagara thrill you when you hear her waters roar?
Do you look with awe and wonder at her Massachusetts shore,
Where men who braved a hard new world first stepped on Plymouth's rock?
And do you think of them when you stroll along a New York City dock?
Have you seen a snowflake drifting in the Rockies, way up high?
Have you seen the sun come blazing down from a bright Nevada sky?
Do you hail to the Columbia as she rushes to the sea,
Or bow your head at Gettysburg at our struggle to be free?
Have you seen the mighty Tetons?
Have you watched an eagle soar?
Have you seen the Mississippi roll along Missouri's shore?
Have you felt a chill at Michigan when on a winter's day
Her waters rage along the shore in thunderous display?
Does the word "Aloha" make you warm?
Do you stare in disbelief
When you see the surf come roaring in at Waimea Reef?
From Alaska's cold to the Everglades, from the Rio Grande to Maine,
My heart cries out, my pulse runs fast at the might of her domain.
You ask me Why I Love Her?
I've a million reasons why:
My beautiful America, beneath God's wide, wide sky.
"We must always look to the future. Tomorrow--the time that gives a man just one more chance--is one of the many things that I feel are wonderful in life. So's a good horse under you. Or the only campfire for miles around. Or a quiet night and a nice soft hunk of ground to sleep on. A mother meeting her first-born. The sound of a kid calling you dad for the first time. There's a lot of things great about life. But I think tomorrow is the most important thing. Comes in to us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday."
John Wayne
Oscar Winning Speech
On receiving the best actor Oscar for his role as Rooster Cogburn in "True Grit."
"Wow! Ladies and gentlemen, I'm no stranger to this podium. I've come up here and picked up these beautiful golden men before, but always for friends. One night I picked up two: one for Admiral John Ford and one for our beloved Gary Cooper. I was very clever and witty that night--the envy of, even, Bob Hope. But tonight I don't feel very clever, very witty. I feel very grateful, very humble, and I owe thanks to many, many people. I want to thank the members of the Academy. To all you people who are watching on television, thank you for taking such warm interest in our glorious industry. Good night."
God
"I've always had deep faith that there is a Supreme Being, there has to be. To me that's just a normal thing to have that kind of faith. The fact that He's let me stick around a little longer, or She's let me stick around a little longer, certainly goes great with me--and I want to hang around as long as I'm healthy and not in anybody's way."
From an interview with Barbara Walters shortly before his death.
"When the road looks rough ahead, remember the Man Upstairs and the word Hope. Hang onto both and tough it out."
America
"Sure I wave the American flag. Do you know a better flag to wave? Sure I love my country with all her faults. I'm not ashamed of that, never have been, never will be. I was proud when President Nixon ordered the mining of Haiphong Harbor, which we should have done long ago, because I think we're helping a brave little country defend herself against Communist invasion. That's what I tried to show in The Green Berets and I took plenty of abuse from the critics."
On His Political Philosophy
"I have found a certain type calls himself a Liberal...Now I always thought I was a Liberal. I came up terribly surprised one time when I found out that I was a Right-Wing Conservative Extremist, when I listened to everybody's point of view that I ever met, and then decided how I should feel. But this so-called new Liberal group, Jesus, they never listen to your point of view..."
"If everything isn't black and white, I say why the hell not."
About His Own Death
"God, how I hate solemn funerals. When I die, take me into a room and burn me. Then my family and a few good friends should get together, have a few good belts, and talk about the crazy old time we all had together."
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All of my life I've felt privileged to have had good friends around me, privileged to have been able to do the kind of work I know and love the best, and to have been born in a country whose immense beauty and grandeur are matched only by the greatness of her people.
For a number of years I have tried to express a deep and profound love for these things; to be able to say what I feel in my heart. And, now, in this book, I've had the chance to do so.
I know most of you feel the same as I do about some of her imperfections, but sometimes that's good. Especially if it gets us working together to make things better. It seems to me we often take too much for granted, and have a tendency to forget "The Good Things about America."
My hope and prayer is that everyone know and love our country for what she really is and what she stands for. May we nurture her strengths and strengthen her weaknesses so that she will always be a "Land of the Free, and Home of the Brave."
John Wayne
Actually, it's
Freedom. I like the sound of the word. It means people can come and go, buy and sell, be drunk or sober, however they choose.
John Wayne had a deep love for his country. This patriotism is reflected throughout his life. He had wanted to go into the military but an old football injury prevented it. He is quoted as saying,
"More than anything else, I wanted to go to Annapolis and become an officer in the Navy. It was a terrible disappointment when I didn't make it."
The American public may have lost the chance at a great officer but John Wayne never failed us. He worked with the USO (United Service Organization) in supporting US troops from WW2 through to Vietnam. His visits cheered and encouraged many a young service man. Duke wore Capt. Stephen P Hanson's "Prisoner of War" bracelet after the Marine was shot down over Laos, Vietnam. Sadly, Hanson never came home but John Wayne stayed in contact with his wife and young son.
Even have a sound bite.
I didn't know it until I saw "Stagecoach" a few weeks ago, but Marion was one HOT guy.
What has happened to these people?
WOW 2003 and still here cool
And still here in 2010.
John Wayne was a real man. A man you could trust to help teach children proper respect and humanity. A man who earned and deserved the respect of most of the world.
Today’s actors think popularity makes them a “good person” regardless of how ill-mannered, illegal and ugly they act or dress. They’re spoiled brats whom apparently think we OWE them respect. I owe the overpaid camera hams nothing.
Ditto
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