John Wayne
A True American
In a career that spanned roughly 200 films, John Wayne not only played cowboys and explorers, but also members of every armed service. He brought his incomparable style and charm to each role, from a captain to a major, a colonel to a sergeant, a pilot to a lieutenant.The characters he played, and the outspoken way in which he defended his work and his country, made him as much of an American hero to generations of filmgoers as the men who defended them at war, despite Wayne never serving a day in the military.
By 1943, Wayne began touring to entertain American
GIs as part of the newly formed United Service Organizations (USO).Throughout World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, Wayne traveled wherever troops were stationed to boost the morale of the soldiers. His most famous stop was a 1966 visit to Vietnam, where he met with wounded troops and those engaged in active combat, while also researching his film
The Green Berets. Wayne was an enthusiastic supporter of the military in his personal life and his films, and was revered by Americans and military’s most esteemed, including
Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who believed Wayne represented the American serviceman better than the serviceman himself. Wayne received awards and accolades from the U.S. Marine Corps, the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and many other organizations.
Wayne’s status as a cultural icon allowed him to become one of Hollywood’s few respected conservative voices. In 1973 Wayne’s patriotism earned him a Grammy nomination for a spoken word record titled America, Why I Love Her, in which he recited a verse tribute to his birthplace.
After his passing in 1979, John Wayne was presented with the two highest civilian honors the U.S. gives, the Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Nearly 40 years after his death he is still known as quintessentially American, an extension of his perfect portrayals of men who step up to face crises and right wrongs regardless of the cost.