These are our John Wayne's, aren't they great? John Wayne didn't die, he just passed bravery on to another generation, and that generation passed him off to another, and this brave generation will pass them of again. Whoa, whoa, whoa hoss. John Wayne may have been a great American, but he never served a day in his life. Try someone like Roy Benevidez or Dick Meadows if you're going to assign a role model.
The point about John Wayne was the he did his part, after being refused service due to age, dependants and medical disability, in the defense of his country by making films that told a story of the American GI. Sure, he was disappointed about being rejected but he made a different tac, he chose to make pictures that celebrated regular GIs that were fighting a war that most of the socialists in this country said could not be won. He was a hero, and will always be a hero. He fought the war the best way he knew. He took it to the American people, and they loved it. And, he served this country until he took his last, brave breath. He served as a role model, to me and millions of kids that served, proudly in a jungle, half way around the world. Lonely and scared, we did the heroic things that we saw John Wayne do. John Wayne wasn't a person, he was an idea, an ideal of American courage, American spirit. He brought to a soldier, sailor, marine, the real meaning of what you were doing there, and he taught you the meaning of victory through sacrafice. I saw him in a Bob Hope show in Da Nang. He read the Declaration of Independance, with commentary. I don't think I'll ever be that inspired again. When I left that show to go back to the combat waiting for me on "The Trail" I was going to win that war, no matter what the odds. I still carry that to this day. At the end of his presentation he stood at full attention and raised his hand in salute. You could hear 1000 commanders giving orders. We saluted him back....as a unit and proudly. He was as proud as we were.
The legand of this man is a legand that makes my life different than people that give up. He made a huge difference in my life. It's not a man to try to bring down, he was a difference in wars fought around the world. He was a force that made a GI the first line of defense for this country. John Wayne lives in all GIs, that's what makes us the best. That's my hero....John Wayne!