John Wayne _ The Man Behind the Myth - Michael Munn [143]
In December 1965, Wayne wrote to President Lyndon B. Johnson about his plans to film The Green Berets. “I told the president that I felt it was important that the people of the United States and also people all over the world should know why it was necessary for Americans to be in Vietnam. And I got the government’s support to make the picture.”
When I asked Wayne to explain why it was important for America to be there, he looked at me with some amazement as if I should know the answer, but he patiently replied, “When Johnson sent marines to the Dominican Republic in 1965, the liberals said we’d 21184_ch01.qxd 12/18/03 1:43 PM Page 268
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ruin everything and the world would turn against us. But we went in and helped to give them a republic that’s as good as any in Latin America. Your own country [Britain] defeated the Communists’
attempt to take over Malaya in the fifties. And Indonesia had the good sense and the guts to throw the Communists out. Even Kennedy stood up again the Communists when they tried putting their nuclear weapons in Cuba. You just can’t let the Communists do what they want, which is to rule the world. Make no mistake. I know. Khrushchev told me what he was going to do. And we can’t let ’em do it. It’s unthinkable. There are people who’ll tell you that the Communists are no threat. Believe me, they are. I tell you, I know.”
That’s when I said to Wayne, “Is that because they tried to kill you?”
The long stare was accompanied by a long pause. Finally, he said,
“Why’d you say that?” And so I told him what Peter Cushing had told me.
He was clearly bemused as he visibly fussed and fumed in silence except for the muttering that went on under his breath. I couldn’t tell if he was going to suddenly lose his temper, or what he was going to do. Finally, he sighed, let his shoulders drop, and just sat there. He raised his eyes and I was relieved to see there was no sign of anger there. He said, “I’ll tell you something. I’ll tell you why it’s got to be like that after I tell you what happened.
“I’d made myself a promise after I realized I’d really licked the Big C that I’d go to Vietnam just to shake hands with those kids we’d sent over. I did it for their fathers in the last world war, and I’d do it for them because whatever war it is, we all owe a debt to the men who fight for our freedom. So I did a three-week tour in Vietnam in June 1966. I spent three days in Saigon where I was put up in a nice hotel where it was safe and comfortable. What really took me by surprise was the number of Vietnamese who recognized me. I’d come out of the Rex Hotel and the Vietnamese people would just stop their cars, and they’d be shouting, ‘John Wayne! Number One Cowboy!’ I didn’t think they’d know who I was.
“You know, there wasn’t much I could do to entertain them. I didn’t tell jokes the way Bob Hope did, and I certainly wasn’t gonna 21184_ch01.qxd 12/18/03 1:43 PM Page 269
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sing to them. I just put on a uniform, took off my rug [toupee], and I went around shaking hands with the troops, joking with them, signing autographs, and answering their questions. I didn’t sleep much because I wanted to be at their disposal.
“I wanted to see for myself what was going on out in the boondocks. So they sent me to a little village, and I could hear a lot of gunfire going on not far off. The Third Battalion was based there, and I was signing autographs and the usual stuff when bullets began hitting the ground near us. I didn’t notice and just kept signing autographs, but the marines automatically scrambled for cover. So I took cover also, ’cos I’m not stupid enough to stand out there and be a sitting duck.
“I thought, ‘Jesus, the goddamn Commies nearly got me again.’
Ya see . . . back in the fifties . . .” He was clearly in two minds what to say and how much to say. Finally, he just said, “Look, if you ever see Yakima Canutt, just ask him. He saved my life a couple of times, but he wasn’t out there in Vietnam to save me. Fortunately I had the marines, which is the