John Wayne Birthplace Museum

[Hoosier_Vol]

Anyone ever been to this in Iowa? Huge fan of The Duke and westerns in general and thinking of making a trip out in July.

 

[SmokyRiverDog]

Anyone ever been to this in Iowa? Huge fan of The Duke and westerns in general and thinking of making a trip out in July.

Once I discovered John Wayne's birthplace and the bridges of Madison County were in the same place, life changed and not for the better.

 

[FrankenVol54]

My dad was a helicopter pilot/squadron leader in Vietnam. Flew John Wayne around to various bases.
He was most certainly standing on a step for this photo.

 

[vols 30]

The Man who shot Liberty Valance is the greatest western ever ....IMO

 

[Tri-CitiesVol]

My dad was a helicopter pilot/squadron leader in Vietnam. Flew John Wayne around to various bases. View attachment 282813
He was most certainly standing on a step for this photo.

Hueys?

Did he fly any after getting out?

 

[goldenvol]

The Man who shot Liberty Valance is the greatest western ever ....IMO

Outlaw Josey Wells for me, but the Duke was a tad before my time.

 

[vols 30]

Outlaw Josey Wells for me, but the Duke was a tad before my time.

That's a great one too. Prefer that one over the westerns Clint was in the 60's

 

[VolunteerHillbilly]

High Noon is generally regarded as the greatest western movie of all time, although The Searchers passed it on the most recent AFI ranking. My favorite is probably Once Upon A Time In The West.

 

[pismonque]

So everyone who goes to Graumann’s Chinese Theater on Hollywood Blvd, where they have all the hand- and footprints of stars in the concrete, always remarks on how tiny Duke’s feet were for such a tall man.

But a while back I was reading some thing about Robert Mitchum (badass) and there was an interview where he was bashing on John Wayne and saying Duke wore 4” lifts in his shoes, which if true was strange because even without them he’d still be tall.

So last year we happened to be in LA one day and my daughter wanted to go to Graumann’s to see the footprints again so we stopped by. I went over to Duke’s again and it hit me, holy crap, it’s just like a women’s high heel! If he did wear 4” lifts he’d be on the balls of his feet and his footprints would look oddly wide and short just like they do.

That also would explain the classic John Wayne walk, that weird, almost toe-first saunter he’s known for. It looks like a man trying to walk in high heels and swagger at the same time.

Or he was just tall and peglegged. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[FrankenVol54]

Hueys?

Did he fly any after getting out?

Yes, he flew UH-1's. He didn't fly much after Vietnam and flew none after he retired.

His younger brother flew AH-1 Cobras in Vietnam and did not not re-enlist after his tour. He ended up flying air ambulances in West Virginia and eventually training air ambulance pilots all over the country.