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Famous Historic Figures’ Public Image vs the Reality of their Lives

Khalid Elhassan June 3, 2020 34 min

John Ford - The Searchers — John Wayne. Pintrest

35. “I Better Go Do Some Touring – I Feel the Draft Breathing Down My Neck“

B-17 waist gunner Clark Gable. American Air Museum

John Wayne was in his early 30s when America joined WWII – not exactly a youngster, but still prime fighting age. Many famous public figures rushed to enlist, including athletes, movie directors, and Hollywood superstars. Some were significantly older than Wayne, such as Clark Gable, who was in his 40s when he enlisted.

Colonel Jimmy Stewart receiving a *Croix de Guerre* with Palm from Lieutenant General Valin, French Air Force Chief of Staff. US Air Force

Another was Jimmy Stewart, who had to pull strings and get waivers to join the military (he was underweight). John Wayne, by contrast, pulled strings and got waivers to stay out of the military. Both Gable and Clark subsequently risked their lives on bombing missions over Germany. Wayne limited his contribution to USO tours, entertaining troops overseas. Even those, however, were done with the ulterior motive of keeping him out of the military. As he once put it during the war: “I better go do some touring – I feel the draft breathing down my neck“.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.