Is That You, John Wayne?

This is one of my favorite Vietnam photos. The Marine in the photo is Bud Lemoyne from Florida; a funny guy who could make you laugh at most anything. I've always thought it would make a perfect poster or a Life Magazine cover for what the troops thought about the Vietnam War.

A Marine Gives His View On The Vietnam War

I don't remember the circumstance behind the photo, but it probably had something to do with the fact that he didn't have a magazine in his rifle. Somebody probably asked him if he thought he was John Wayne or Gomer Pyle.

Most people don't know the Marine Corps had a strong dislike for John Wayne and Gomer Pyle. Actors playing Marines, who were never actually Marines, are never accepted by the Corps. Only Marines and Navy Corpsmen attached to the Marines can represent the Marines. That's how it is. It's not that the Marine Corps disliked the actors as people. They just did things real Marines would never do: pull grenade pins with their teeth, etc.

I once lived with a guy who was in the boot camp platoon they used at the beginning of the Gomer Pyle Show. I can't repeat here what their drill intructor said about being forced to be part of that show. During training, if you got caught carrying your rifle in one hand, you had to run around the outfit yelling, "I'm the baddest motherf--ker on earth. I'm John Wayne. I can carry my rifle in one hand."

In the movie Full Metal Jacket, when Joker says, "Is that you John Wayne?" That is what the line refers to...the strong dislike of John Wayne type people who were never in the Corps, yet, get identified with the Marine Corps.

The Marine Corps accepts no substitutes, ever.

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