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An outspoken hawk during the Vietnam War, Wayne co-directed and starred in the Pentagon-subsidized propaganda picture “The Green Berets.”
Duke denounced antiwar protesters, reportedly saying: “As far as I’m concerned, it wouldn’t bother me a bit to pull the trigger on one of ‘em.”
Wayne was, in reality, a draft dodger. AmericaÂ’s
archetypal soldier was in fact
a chickenhawk. He was a cheerleader and champion of militaristic patriotism and combat he had never experienced. Wayne had “other priorities” during WWII—achieving superstardom (and saving his neck) was more important than defeating fascism. Much like Vice President Dick Cheney, who sought numerous deferments during the Vietnam War,
Wayne was the quintessential war wimp.
According to Pilar
Wayne, her husband
“would become a ‘superpatriot’ for the rest of his life trying to atone for staying home” during WWII."