Heroes and Patriots Not

Down the street from us in Newport Beach lived John Wayne, Iowa hero for some reason; mostly a product of Hollywood propaganda. His wife, Pilar told our neighbor that he made patriotic movies to assuage the guilt he felt for staying home during World War II. Other movie stars at the time gave up their careers in film to fight in the war. Clark Gable was an aerial gunner over Europe. Henry Fonda enlisted because he “didn't want to be in a fake war in a studio.” Jimmy Stewart was ineligible because he was underweight but he drank beer to later qualify! What a trooper. He later led a 1,000 plane mission to bomb Berlin and shot down multiple enemy aircraft.

Wayne filed for a sole provider deferment (3-A). When the need for more troops became dire he was reclassified as 1-A. But the Hollywood studios intervened and he was given a special 2-A status to “support the national interest.” He was deemed more valuable making propaganda than as a soldier. He was booed by combat veterans while doing USO shows during World War II.

Celebrated director, John Ford made 14 movies with John Wayne. Ford was a decorated naval commander. After a take in "They Were Expendable" (1945) where Wayne gave a salute, Director Ford said, “Duke, can't you manage a salute that at least looks as though you've been in the service?” This cut brought The Duke to tears as he felt so guilty about avoiding the war.

It's become standard that those who promote or glorify war the most are not the ones who have fought. My dad, who was one of two to survive a B-29 crash landing and fire bombed Tokyo, hardly mentioned the war until well into his 80s. He lamented that in the US, war is a “cultural thing that can't be changed.” Experienced Vietnam vets who I protested with rarely talked about their experiences, only that it needs to stop.

Researching for this column has tempered my dislike for John Wayne. He was a victim of circumstance and age, in a way. But he constantly berated people like me who saw the Vietnam War for what it was, a deadly economic development project for investors in well-connected, so-called defense industries. How someone who had the brains to get so far in his industry would think that it is patriotic to bomb the hell out of a million people and sacrifice 58,000 productive Americans to stop a bunch of subsistence farmers from imposing communism on America is beyond me.

Things haven't changed. As I was a tiny minority opposing the war in Vietnam and called unpatriotic, people protesting the genocide in Gaza are depicted the same way. Nikki Haley has gone full macho, writing “finish them” on a US supplied Israeli bomb. Donald Trump, in mockery of the First Amendment, told donors he would deport pro-Palestinian protesters. And in further proof that The Swamp has purchased him, he said any attack on Ukraine or Taiwan by Russia or China should be met by America bombing Moscow or Beijing.

I was at a small beach two houses down from John Wayne's house playing volleyball after school. A scrawny little kid on a bike showed up from outside our neighborhood and one of us asked if he wanted to play. He said he was looking for John Wayne. One kid knew when The Duke was coming home and the kid waited. As Wayne's Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser pulled into his driveway, the kid approached and Wayne refused to listen to him. He turned to walk away and the kid touched his shirttail. John Wayne put his hand on the kid's forehead and shoved him to the ground walking away and slamming his gate.

People like John Wayne, Nikki Haley, and Donald Trump don't deserve hero status. They aren't patriots.

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