Wayne knew that if he took a few years off for military service, there was a good chance that by the time he got back he’d be over the hill.Besides, he specialized in the kind of movies a nation at war wanted to see, in which a rugged American hero overcame great odds. Recognizing that Hollywood was an important part of the war effort, Washington had told California draft boards to go easy on actors. Perhaps rationalizing that he could do more good at home, Wayne obtained 3-A status, “deferred for [family] dependency reasons.” He told friends he’d enlist after he made just one or two more movies.
The real question is why he never did so. Wayne cranked out thirteen movies during the war, many with war-related themes. Most of the films were enormously successful and within a short time the Duke was one of America’s most popular stars. His bankability now firmly established, he could have joined the military, secure in the knowledge that Hollywood would welcome him back later. He even made a half-hearted effort to sign up, sending in the paperwork to enlist in the naval photography unit commanded by a good friend, director John Ford.But he didn’t follow through. Nobody really knows why; Wayne didn’t like to talk about it. A guy who prided himself on doing his own stunts, he doesn’t seem to have lacked physical courage. One suspects he just found it was a lot more fun being a Hollywood hero than the real kind. Many movie star-soldiers had enlisted in the first flush of patriotism after Pearl Harbor. As the war ground on, slogging it out in the trenches seemed a lot less exciting. The movies, on the other hand, had put Wayne well on the way to becoming a legend. “Wayne increasingly came to embody the American fighting man,” Wills writes. In late 1943 and early 1944 he entertained the troops in the Pacific theater as part of a USO tour. An intelligence bigshot asked him to give his impression of Douglas MacArthur. He was fawned over by the press when he got back. Meanwhile, he was having a torrid affair with a beautiful Mexican woman. How could military service compare with that?
In 1944, Wayne received a 2-A classification, “deferred in support of [the] national … interest.” A month later the Selective Service decided to revoke many previous deferments and reclassified him 1-A. But Wayne’s studio appealed and got his 2-A status reinstated until after the war ended.
beerhaws on
I always thought it was amusing how in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance Wayne played the tough guy even though his co-stars, Lee Marvin and Jimmy Stewart, were both combat veterans of WW2.
Quiet_Comparison_872 on
Don’t forget Clark Cable actually saw combat as a gunner on a B-17 despite his studio not wanting him to even be in the army much less in combat.
Linscotticus on
Behind the Bastards pretty much did a scathing exposé on John (not)macho Wayne
AlBarbossa on
Even Elvis joined the army
Dominarion on
Clark Gable was a B-17 gunner, one of the most dangerous jobs in the whole US forces. He flew in bombing missions in 1942, when whole bombing squadrons were decimated, even wiped out, because some idiot really bought the idea that the B-17 was a superfortress. Spoiler alert: It wasn’t. German flak and fighters would tear the bombers to shred.
Clark Gable knew this and went anyway. And he went back on missions to film a propaganda movie. After that, his brain told his balls to calm the fuck down and he realized that at 43 yo, he was really too old for that shit. The army releaved him from active duty in 1944 at his request. He ended up the war as a major.
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Wayne knew that if he took a few years off for military service, there was a good chance that by the time he got back he’d be over the hill.Besides, he specialized in the kind of movies a nation at war wanted to see, in which a rugged American hero overcame great odds. Recognizing that Hollywood was an important part of the war effort, Washington had told California draft boards to go easy on actors. Perhaps rationalizing that he could do more good at home, Wayne obtained 3-A status, “deferred for [family] dependency reasons.” He told friends he’d enlist after he made just one or two more movies.
The real question is why he never did so. Wayne cranked out thirteen movies during the war, many with war-related themes. Most of the films were enormously successful and within a short time the Duke was one of America’s most popular stars. His bankability now firmly established, he could have joined the military, secure in the knowledge that Hollywood would welcome him back later. He even made a half-hearted effort to sign up, sending in the paperwork to enlist in the naval photography unit commanded by a good friend, director John Ford.But he didn’t follow through. Nobody really knows why; Wayne didn’t like to talk about it. A guy who prided himself on doing his own stunts, he doesn’t seem to have lacked physical courage. One suspects he just found it was a lot more fun being a Hollywood hero than the real kind. Many movie star-soldiers had enlisted in the first flush of patriotism after Pearl Harbor. As the war ground on, slogging it out in the trenches seemed a lot less exciting. The movies, on the other hand, had put Wayne well on the way to becoming a legend. “Wayne increasingly came to embody the American fighting man,” Wills writes. In late 1943 and early 1944 he entertained the troops in the Pacific theater as part of a USO tour. An intelligence bigshot asked him to give his impression of Douglas MacArthur. He was fawned over by the press when he got back. Meanwhile, he was having a torrid affair with a beautiful Mexican woman. How could military service compare with that?
In 1944, Wayne received a 2-A classification, “deferred in support of [the] national … interest.” A month later the Selective Service decided to revoke many previous deferments and reclassified him 1-A. But Wayne’s studio appealed and got his 2-A status reinstated until after the war ended.
I always thought it was amusing how in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance Wayne played the tough guy even though his co-stars, Lee Marvin and Jimmy Stewart, were both combat veterans of WW2.
Don’t forget Clark Cable actually saw combat as a gunner on a B-17 despite his studio not wanting him to even be in the army much less in combat.
Behind the Bastards pretty much did a scathing exposé on John (not)macho Wayne
Even Elvis joined the army
Clark Gable was a B-17 gunner, one of the most dangerous jobs in the whole US forces. He flew in bombing missions in 1942, when whole bombing squadrons were decimated, even wiped out, because some idiot really bought the idea that the B-17 was a superfortress. Spoiler alert: It wasn’t. German flak and fighters would tear the bombers to shred.
Clark Gable knew this and went anyway. And he went back on missions to film a propaganda movie. After that, his brain told his balls to calm the fuck down and he realized that at 43 yo, he was really too old for that shit. The army releaved him from active duty in 1944 at his request. He ended up the war as a major.