Real Heroes Make World Safe for Fakes
As an actor, ex-Marine and combat veteran of Vietnam, I must object vehemently to points made in Miles Corwin’s “expose” of actors who play soldiers without having been soldiers in real life.
Despite the popular demythologizing story that Wayne avoided service in World War II by means of a flimsy deferment, the truth is his deferment was based not only on his age (34) and dependents (five) as Corwin states, but also on a punctured eardrum and a badly damaged shoulder.
Re the accusation that Wayne and others Corwin mentions at some time “blurred the distinction between being a real war hero and a Hollywood hero”: When did John Wayne or Clint Eastwood ever attempt publicly or privately to suggest that they were real-life heroes?
Yes, Wayne may have been “elevated to a national patriotic icon,” but not because he suddenly decided to be one. The movie-going public makes these decisions, not the actor.
JIM BEAVER
Van Nuys
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